White Brotherhood
by Animation Universe 2005
Summary: Musaki comes across two young orphans; a white tiger and a white wolf and one of them has elemental powers that would ultimately bring something extraordinary and Musaki sees them as his new brothers. Rated T for violence.
1. Origins

This sorta came out and I just felt like what if the new character I make had to deal with being called a monster with powers. That's where this comes in. This is dedicated to Joe 'Po' Navark, Tyson the Wolf Omega (my new OC is the inspiration of his OC character) and a special dedication to vampire1031 and Wonder Panda Tan-Tan. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this!

Also, thanks to Joe 'Po' Navark for helping me with the name of the story and to vampire1031 and Tyson the Wolf Omega for helping me delve out my new OC character. This is for you guys!

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><p>White Brotherhood<p>

by: Terrell James

Chapter 1: Origins

It was a foggy morning in a remote forest somewhere in China, not too far from the Valley of Peace and everything around there was quiet...until a certain roar comes along to disrupt the peace and tranquility of the forest and the roar echoed deeply that it could scare anyone. Suddenly, out of the surface, an evil white tiger, mid-to late 40's, around 5'9, weighing in at 184 pounds, dark orange eyes, wears dark blue pants and has a japanese symbol on his forehead that mentions 'demonic', searching for his victims.

He lets out a low growl as he was looking for his prey that ran away from him without even knowing it. As he searched high and low for his victims, he whispered out, "When I find you two...there will be trouble."

Soon enough, two teenage white animals were hiding in a log hoping that a certain someone won't find them for they did not want to be beaten up or scratched up. One such person is a young white tiger, around 15 years of age, around 5'5, weighing in at 140 pounds, dark hazel-blue eyes, wearing a torn vest and some patched up silk grey pants, takes a deep breath and slowly pops his head out of the log, hoping that they won't be found.

"Did he find us yet?"

He turns around and a young white wolf, 17 years old, around 5'7, weighing in at 145 pounds, green eyes, wearing only a torn grey vest and ripped khaki shorts, wild spiky black hair on his back and a scar on his muzzle and eyes slowly walks up to him and the young tiger replied, "No. At least, not yet anyway."

Both of them slowly walked out of the log quietly and tried their best to keep running away from their 'guardian'. Misery and anger somehow clouded the young tiger's mind over this ordeal and he just completely spurts out his dark power out of nowhere as it struck a tree branch, which would be a bad time for using it because that would mean the evil tiger could hear it at any moment.

Unfortunately for them, further away from where the boys are, the evil white tiger heard the sound of someone's dark powers coming in miles away and he lets out a sinister snarl as he quietly walks over to a boulder and he immediately sees them running out and he figured that there would be no way to let them escape out of his sight and said in a menacing voice, "I see you two...and there is no way that you two will get out of here...alive."

He then jumps out of there and then he lets out a huge roar as he was about to land on where the boys are and it suddenly caught their attetion as they heard the evil tiger's roar coming out of nowhere and they can sense that he's coming. The young white tiger froze for a second and he asked, "Santiago?"

"Yeah?" asked Santiago, in a fearful tone on his voice.

"I have a feeling that Benkei is near." the young white tiger replied.

All of a sudden, not even 10 seconds in and already, Benkei already landed in front of them and the evil white tiger lets out an angry growl as he was near the young white tiger and he got in his face and said, "Trying to run from me, Byakko? Well, I'll make sure that the one place you'll run...is in your grave."

Benkei strikes up his claws to aim at Byakko's face, but Byakko immediately went on the attack mode as he slams down Benkei with his hands and struck him with his darkness force of power where it landed on his body, but for some reason...Benkei dodged the blow byakko gave and the young white tiger completely grew ticked at this and Benkei said, "The world is a cruel place and you two will never belong because you're monsters in this world."

The term 'monster' echoes into Byakko's mind as he heard it from him a million times throughout his life because of his powers that have often gotten him into being an outsider from the world he knew for one reason...he is a half-demon.

**15 years ago...**

A baby white tiger was born into the world where he was surrounded by his parents in a little cave somewhere in China and after looking at his mom and dad for the first time, he looks at them, smiling and happy...so much so that he immediately lets out an electric power out of his finger and struck a tree branch in half. Both parents looked at the young tiger and immediately realized that this is no ordinary baby. His father saw the signs of his powers and found out that he is a half-demon like himself and he hopes that one day he can teach him to control his powers.

His father picked the little tiger cub up and saw a japanese sign on top of his forehead that represented that he's a white tiger and decided to name the tiger Byakko. He looked at his son and figured that he'll do whatever he can to make sure that he is sheltered from the harshness of the world that sees him and his powers.

But that kind of plan and life would be soon be short-lived because they were all unaware that a certain stranger sees his old rival looking at his new family and when he witnessed the boy's powers, he knew right there and then that he'll put an end to the cub's parents and also the cub too. He lets out a quiet, sinister snarl to form his devious plan to kill the cub's father and his mother so he'll take the young tiger in for evil reasons.

Then, just a week after Byakko was born, a certain tragedy would come in that will one day be embedded on his head forever...when the family's house was burned to the ground and two of his parents were killed. It was a horrifying image that will always be replayed on the back of his head for the rest of his life and suddenly, not long after, the villagers looked in horror as the entire house caved in engulfing the bodies of Byakko's parents and immediately, all fingers are pointed at Byakko for his powers calling him a 'monster', 'savage beast' or 'tiger murderer', accused and blamed for supposedly killing the people he was supposed to love.

Racked with guilt and fear in his eyes, the young tiger cub ran away from that home and he couldn't stand to be called what other people see him...as a monster. He ran and ran and ran until he found a cave to hide himself away from everything and everyone. Meanwhile, the baby cub couldn't take the image of seeing his parents get killed by the fire, thinking that he might be the cause for it and he looked at his hands and saw that those powers of his are responsible for slaying people.

He just laid down on the ground, cold and alone and just cried...cried without a care in the world. Suddenly, a dark shadowy figure lurks in the cave and there was an older white tiger coming in and he saw Byakko for the first time and he sees that mark on the cub's forehead where it resembled the same sign on his father's forehead and figured that as long as he kept him around, he can put an end to his life for he knows of his powers.

But what the young cub didn't know is that the older tiger was hiding a deep, dark, demonic secret that had something to do with his parent's death, which will be the cause of manipulating the young Byakko throughout the course of his life and as he took him in, he decided to keep him thinking that he may one day be of 'use to him.'

As the years went by, the young white tiger was kept in Benkei's underground cavern to keep the young tiger away from the outside world where no one can accept him because of the fact that he is a monster. And Benkei kept telling Byakko that his parents abandoned him because of those powers and that they never really loved him because he is a monster in order to hide his secret to make Byakko believe it.

As Byakko tried his best to keep his powers under control, it makes it harder for him to do so because each time he comes over and sees some kids, they tend to look at his claws and fangs, thinking that he might kill him or use his powers to destroy lives and ran away from him with fear in their heads. Each time they ran away from him, it only makes Byakko feel frustrated to know that no one will accept him and even at the village, he gets picked on or even blamed for anything he didn't do. The more he thought about it, the more alone he feels and it made him feel like he really is a savage beast or a tiger freak.

As Benkei kept him around, Byakko became a victim of Benkei's abuse...mentally, physically and emotionally; barely showing any concern for him, beating him and harming him when he gets in trouble and also saying that he'll never amount to anything because people will hurt a certain beast or monster like him and it's those thoughts that made him feel like he shouldn't even live anymore.

Then, one day when he was about 5 years of age, a couple of kids from across the street picked on Byakko for no reason, trying to make him mad and let him be blamed for using of his powers directly at them. They shoved him down, poked him and even slapped him in the face while they're still laughing at him and one of them even spat at his face. That made him feel like he was about to lose it at any minute, but instead...Byakko broke down and cried, in which the kids still tormented him at all calling him 'a crybaby monster'.

Just then, a 7 year old white wolf came in front of Byakko and growled at them for torturing the young white tiger. He then spat out, "Unless you wanna torture me...leave this young tiger alone before I expose my ugly side towards you!"

The young kids looked at the white wolf and sees that he meant business and quickly got away from him and when he turns around, Byakko was gone. He walked all across the forest, sniffing out his scent and when he smelled Byakko's scent, he followed it until it reaches a cave where he heard someone crying. He silently walks inside there and not long after, he sees Byakko crying from behind.

The young wolf didn't know what to do at that point or what to say, but Byakko heard him coming anyway and he just turns around and lets out a snarl with tears coming out of his eyes and he screamed, "GO AWAY!"

Byakko turns around and he continued to cry hoping that the wolf would just leave him alone, but to his surprise...he's still here. He didn't really think that he would actually still be here instead of running away from him and the young tiger then asked him, "Why aren't you running away from me?"

The young wolf looked at him in confusion and he asked, "Why would I?"

"Aren't you...scared of me?" asked Byakko, with a broken voice.

To Byakko's shock, the wolf nodded his head and realized that he met someone that isn't afraid of Byakko and that he cares...though he doesn't know what that feels like. He then turns to him and asked, "Why did you do that for me? No one ever sticks their neck out for me."

The wolf comes closer to Byakko and he said, "I've been picked on before and people call me a monster because I'm just a wolf...thinking that I'm desired to kill...and that my powers are something that I can't control."

To see that Byakko and that wolf have something in common...it made him feel like he's not alone anymore though he still feels that way. Then, the young wolf said, "I just don't like it when people treat people so unfairly and give them misery all the time."

Byakko quietly went up to him and he looks at him and then he asked, "You're not really afraid of me?"

"No. Are you afraid of me?"

One look at the young white wolf and he sees deep in his eyes that it showed a sense of compassion...something he never felt before or even knew what it's about. But to see that he has the same feelings as he has makes him realize that he does care. He then replied, "No."

"I'm Santiago."

"I'm Byakko...and thanks for sticking up for me."

Both of them were unaware that Benkei was right there, watching this friendship come to fruition and he was familiarized by that white wolf because he's a half-demon as well like his father and that he knew he found him anywhere after an awful secret he had hidden years before he met Byakko. As the two of them got out, Benkei went in front of them and Byakko knew that he was gonna be in big trouble and he took both of them back to his domain where the torture continued.

Both boys stuck together throughout Benkei's harsh abuse where they got scarred, beaten up, clawed and hated by both Benkei and everyone else in the surface because of their powers.

Somehow, Benkei kept his manipulating ways fooling both Byakko and Santiago that their powers were responsible for the deaths of their parents and that they should deserve to be hated and rejected by everyone and everything. Both boys never liked Benkei and they couldn't stand to live in constant fear of his ways and hoped that one day they'll escape his wrath.

Then, he stuck out his sword directly at them and he said, "If either one of you plans to leave this place, you will receive a harsh and painful punishment that will ultimately be a fateful choice."

That ounce of fear seeped into their minds as they knew they would face death if they ever leave Benkei's sight.

**In the present day...**

Byakko didn't feel like talking to Benkei, so he growled at him, leaped up at him and scratched his face off and used his fire power to place flames into himself, but instead, hit a tree and when it fell down, both boys continued to run away from Beneki's sight.

Santiago looked at Byakko and he asked, "Where are we going?"

Byakko started panting heavily and he said, "I don't know, but anywhere's better than dealing with Benkei. Hopefully, we can find somewhere where he can no longer find us."

"I hope you're right, Byakko. Or no one can find us because who'd accept two monsters like us?" asked Santiago.

Byakko knew that Santiago was right...who would accept them as friends because of their powers? Those powers of theirs are destined to kill and destroy lives and everything, not to mention anyone they would soon care about. Thinking back on the time his parents are dead, he lets out a deep sigh of regret and hurt knowing that their parents really did abandon him because he was a monster and as a result, killed them. He tried to get that image out of his head and tried his best to shield any emotion he had in him and continued running away.

Meanwhile, Benkei got out of the firey tree and continued setting his way finding both Byakko and Santiago and he knows the full penalty they'll pay for running away from them. He lets out a huge roar as he drew his sword out and said, "You will regret the day you got away from me! Now you'll taste the same fate your parents had years ago! And when I find you, I'll make sure your last days on earth will come in a quick and painful end."

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><p>How's that for a beginning? If you guys have any editing suggestions to this, let me know! This is only the beginning of the story!<p> 


	2. An Unexpected Rescue

Here's where we seek Musaki...enjoying a normal morning of training until something not-so normal happens in an unexpected way.

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><p>Chapter 2: An Unexpected Rescue<p>

It was a normal peaceful morning in the Valley of Peace and that followed up with a peaceful yoga session at the Sacred Peach Tree near the Jade Palace where Musaki began meditating away, keeping his focus on thinking peaceful thoughts. Within a span of 20 minutes, all Musaki could do is just sit down and let his mind do some serious flowing.

Then, he opens his eyes as one cherry blossom tree falls down and lands on his head. He lets out a soft chuckle and then, he gets up, stretches himself and proceeds to head to the training hall to do some serious sparring. He was hoping that he can beat Tigress yet again, but knowing her, she'd pummel him to a bloody pulp if she loses...again. And when he got inside, he could see that everyone has already started and when he faced Shifu, he only said these two words:

"You're late, Musaki." Shifu said, sternly.

Musaki bowed to him and he quickly said, "Sorry, Shifu. I guess I just expanded my yoga session a little too long."

Shifu nodded his head quickly and then, he said, "Your sparring partner for today will be Monkey."

Musaki lets out a huge smile, knowing that he's gonna spar with Monkey instead of Tigress because he knows that she is his least favorite person to spar with because of her temper and he lets out a huge sigh of relief, saying, "Well, at least it's better than sparring with someone who has every intent to claw my arms more than once after losing for the billionth time."

Tigress overheard Musaki's remarks over this and she lets out an angry groan and said, "Do we have to repeat this incident again? It was just a way to let go of my steam."

"Which left some marks on my elbow, no thanks to you." Musaki added.

Tigress was about to beat the crap out of Musaki, when Po, Crane and Monkey tried to stop her before she could do damage to Musaki and Monkey quickly said, "Let's just spar, okay? The last thing we need is a bloodbath between you and her."

"Yeah, you're right. We won't have a bloodbath...not without two weapons; my sai or my new sniper...which I may be determined to use to shoot out that thick ego she calls a skull." Musaki said, in a cocky tone.

"That's it!" Tigress said, pushing them all to the side and planning to take him down, but Musaki used his new power on her, which gave her a shock as she falls backwards to the floor.

Everyone gasped in awe and shock over this new power Musaki had, even he himself was surprised to have that come out of him. Po hung his mouth open at this and asked, "What was that?"

Musaki looked at his hands for a second to have his 'did I really do that' moment and he replied, "Looks like...force fields, just to shield myself from getting attacked."

"That's awesome!" Po said, in a singsongy tone.

Shifu immediately went in and he looked very stern and agitated towards Musaki and Tigress and he said, "Just once, can you two try to be civil without resorting to killing each other? I get enough of that from her and Po."

"I can try to be civil, but it's in my experience in the 4 years I've been here that she can't keep her temper in check like a little 2 year old." Musaki replied.

Tigress seemed to be offended by this remark and she asked, "What does that supposed to mean?"

Musaki tried to calm himself down and decided to just let it go for a while before it gets worse and said, "No use of wasting my energy with you. I've got some sparring to do...but I'll admit, I was so happy when Shifu told me I don't have to spar with you when you nearly killed me 2 weeks ago after that big sparring match."

"Hey, don't blame me! I shouldn't have to lose to you!" Tigress exclaimed.

"Yeah, but did you really have to show your killer instinct in front of 50 million people from the crowd?" asked Mantis.

Tigress was trying to get that thought out of her head and she said, "I just don't think that it's fair to lose out to a 16-year old and get humiliated for it."

Musaki lets out an exasperated sigh and said, "No one humiliated you because you humiliated yourself. Just take your loss like a true warrior."

Shifu lets out a big sigh seeing that she still hasn't gotten over this and he said, "Losing is not dishonorable if it is for the right reason, but trying to choke, strangle and nearly murder a teenager in front of a crowd of onlookers because of a loss is not the right reason. It's just downright childish and you almost scared off half of the crowd, which in turn embarassed me mostly. At least be civil to your loss and just accept it."

Musaki lets out a chuckle and said, "Whoa-ho! That's telling her, Shifu!"

Tigress snarled at him and Musaki lets out a mock snarl and said, "Grrr yourself!"

Shifu lets out a deep breath and tried his best to not let this go to his head and said, "It's like raising two competitors who are acting like kids."

"I'm still a kid." Musaki added.

"You know what I mean." Shifu added.

Seconds later, Monkey and Musaki began sparring each other under Shifu's supervision as Monkey took him down with his boa staff while Musaki did the same as the two staffs clacked each other. Monkey did his best acrobatic move to strike at Musaki, but Musaki did some backflips while twirling the staff around and when he dropped the stick at an attempt to leap up in the air, he does an aerobatic backflip in which he dodged Monkey's kick and landed on his hands in which he picked up the staff with his feet, in which shocked and surprised everyone.

When he got up, he did his best ninja pose and Monkey was impressed by his moves, but is still willing to take him on as both of them dropped their staffs and Monkey quickly went up to him using most of his acrobatic moves to take him down again, this time with swirls, kicks and flips and when he tried to kick Musaki, Musaki grabs him by the foot, does a complete spin that goes faster and faster then kicks him straight up in the air and everyone looks up wondering if he's gonna come down. A minute and a half later, in comes Monkey who lands on his feet, while looking at Musaki.

Shifu snapped his fingers to end the sparring battle and he said, "Musaki, excellent form and those new moves...I can tell you've been practicing on this a lot. Monkey...brilliant and excellent, but I expect more moves from you."

Both of them bowed to Shifu and he said to the students, "That's enough training for today. You're dismissed."

All of them bowed to Shifu as they went off and Musaki decided it was best to take a little walk and not long before, Monkey went up to him and he said, "Sweet moves. It's not the first time I got by butt taken down by a teenager."

Musaki lets out a soft chuckle and he said, "Yeah, well...I have a gift."

"That you do, good friend. That you do." Monkey said, with a chuckle.

A few minutes have gone by and Musaki went walking towards the Valley of Peace to do some exploring to maybe take a little walk to Wu Dan Mountains just to get a look at the view and maybe do some independent exercising for a little bit and on his way, he went through a remote forest which seemed a little bit unfamiliar for him. But when there's a new place, Musaki is always eager to see what it looks like from there so he carries on with it and he quickly sees that it's a little bit foggy there.

Despite all of this, he continues walking his way to the Wu Dan Mountains and as he kept walking, he seeks a burning tree in flames and he figured that something weird has been happening here and as he continued to investigate, he hears some screaming and fighting coming from the other side. He quickly ran towards the other side of the forest and he hid behind a tree and to his shock, he sees a young white wolf and a young white tiger being fought by an evil white tiger and the shock on Musaki's face was filled with horror and outrage to see this happening.

"What do you want from us?" the young tiger asked.

Benkei snarls at both of them as he drew his sword out and plans to use it to kill both of them for running away and he said, "You boys know better than to run away from me! At least my parents never died for monsters like you!"

Byakko felt like he wasn't gonna take much more of this and he went in front of him and decided to use his Brass Spike Knuckles to strike him down and beat him in the face with it and Santiago went in using his claws to scratch him in the face as he let out a huge deep growl and then used his sniper to shoot at him, but Benkei dodged the bullet by an inch and almost landed on Musaki's way.

"Frick..." Byakko whispered.

Benkei brought out his mallett attempting to knock both of them out and he said, "You think you two are gonna leave here and try to find people who care for you, take pity for you and would eventually trust them? There's no one out there you can trust because these types of people don't exist!"

And then, he knocked both of them out as hard as he could and just beat them down really hard until they were unconscious. Musaki looked really shocked after witnessing this scene and realized that these two did not deserve to be treated this way and once Benkei quietly went to both of them, Musaki felt like this was his chance to stop him before he could literally kill both of them.

As he was getting ready to stab them with his sword, he threw his sai and it landed on Benkei's sword and then stuck to the ground. Benkei looked up and he saw Musaki popping out of nowhere as if to end this brutal murder. The evil white tiger snarled at him and he said, "Who the hell are you?"

"No, the better question is what kind of devious person are you, harming these poor boys from the likes of you?" asked Musaki, in an angry tone.

"You don't even know them." Benkei replied, in a cold tone.

Musaki picked up his sai and plans to aim it at Benkei and he said, "Not yet, anyway."

Benkei looked at Musaki like he was crazy to take both of them in and he started laughing at him and he said, "You honestly believe that you'll care for these two?"

Musaki began to bring his sai out as if he wants to start a battle to defend these two strangers from this evil tiger and said, in a menacing tone, "Who wouldn't?"

Benkei then drew his sword to aim at Musaki as if he'll do anything he can to prevent Musaki from letting that happen and he said, "I wouldn't let you do that because these two boys are nothing but demon menaces!"

Musaki looked sickened by the way the white tiger called them off and he said, "Are you sure you're not talking about yourself because you might be one of those demon menaces!"

Both of them looked at each other with menacing looks as they fought with each other and Benkei struck Musaki down with his claws, but he dodged his attempts to claw him and just backflipped and beat him down as fast as he could. Benkei growls at him and leaps up to claw him again, but Musaki flips him down and slams his face to a tree then punches him in the face.

Benkei gets himself up and he asked, "Do you ever give up?"

Musaki lets out a cocky chuckle and said, "Dude, giving up is not an option nor is it a word in my dictionary."

Then, Benkei lands a punch directly at Musaki and fell down to the ground and groaned in pain as Benkei went over and planned to kill him with a sword and he said, "You'll soon regret that you ever intruded into our business!"

Just as he was about to stab Musaki, Byakko somehow wakes up with a power to turn him into a daiokijin creature and uses a very powerful attack to strike Benkei down.

"Hissatsu!" Byakko shouted, as a powerful attack struck Benkei down all the way, leaving him in multiple rounds of pain.

Then, Byakko quickly turned back to normal as he laid back down to the ground again and very quickly, Musaki groans as he turns around and sees that Benkei has been knocked out and when he looked around, the one power woke him up and when he looked at Byakko, he can tell that from that power that he's no ordinary tiger...but a half-demon. But even that didn't stop him from planning to take both of them to a safe place so he picked them up and took them back to the Jade Palace.

Musaki was amazed by how this kid actually did and that both of them have a dire need of safety and compassion and he whispered to both of them, "Don't worry, guys. You're safe now."

Minutes later, Benkei gets himself up, groaning in pain and as he got himself up, he was shaken by the core of Byakko's power that wiped him out and he limped his way over to the other side and he sees Musaki taking them to his home and he said, "So that panda thinks he can take these two beasts and get away with it?"

The thought of revenge seeped into the evil white tiger's mind and he said, "When I find you, I will get you both...and your little panda friend too."

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><p>This is where the story gets even more awesome! Thanks to vampire1031 for suggesting this power; hissatsu. BTW, the power of hissatsu is an instant kill attack which isn't an instant kill, but a powerful attack. Anyways, there is more coming up!<p> 


	3. Why Did You Rescue Me?

You might ask what happened with Byakko and Santiago? Well, here's the answer!

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><p>Chapter 3: Why Did You Rescue Me?<p>

Byakko lets out a quiet groan in pain as he slowly opened his eyes and he seeks a ceiling above, determining that he's inside a building or a village somewhere and as he tried to sit up slowly, he lets out another grunt in pain, seeing that he's been bruised and scratched up. Then he looks around and finds himself in a totally different place indoors, wondering where he is. Then, as he looked up, he sees that he's near Santiago, who's also regaining consciousness as well.

As the white wolf starts to wake up, he lets out a huge groan and then, rubs his muzzle down and looks up to see that they're both in a room. He lets out a curious growl and he asked Byakko, "Where are we?"

Byakko didn't know how to react to it and he responded, "I don't know."

Just then, they see Musaki putting some warm water on a towel and planned to clean off some of their wounds and then he stood up, making Byakko high on alert and then he got alarmed when Musaki tried to place the rag on Byakko's arm, in which he grabbed his hand as if to attack him in self-defense.

Musaki didn't really know what to make of this and that made him a little nervous to see what was going on and Byakko asked, "Who are you?"

"What the heck's going on here?" asked Musaki.

Byakko felt like digging his claws under Musaki's hand and he asked, in a very angry tone, "Did you not hear me? I said who are you?"

"I'm the guy that saved your freakin' lives!" Musaki answered.

Santiago jumped down to the floor, snarling at Musaki and as he came closer to him, Santiago asked, "Are you here to harm us?"

"No...absoultely not! I just saved you guys from that creepy evil tiger dude!" Musaki explained.

Suddenly, both of them froze for a second when he mentioned Benkei in front of them, which drew suspicion for both of them and Byakko lets out a low growl and he asked, "What do you know about Benkei?"

Musaki looked confused by that question and he asked, "That's the crazy dude's name? Oh, you mean the guy that chased you guys? Yeah, I took him down for you guys because I can saw him knock the crap out of you. Someone had to step in and knock him out."

All of a sudden, Byakko had a sudden surge of memory that he wiped out Benkei with his powerful attack all the while Benkei tried to annihilate Musaki and suddenly, he stops and then resumed asking, "What is your name and why did you bring us here?"

"I'm Xing-Fu Musaki Ko-Kanji Bushido-Akio Meng Cheng Xi-Wang...but everyone calls me Musaki. And I brought you guys here because I felt that you needed to go somewhere safe away from that evil monster." Musaki replied.

"Where are we anyway?" asked Santiago.

Byakko finally lets go of Musaki's wrist as he gently rubbed it to make sure no scratches were in there and he replied, "You're in the Jade Palace here in the Valley of Peace."

Both boys completely looked around to see that they're on the inside of a building further away from Benkei, which triggers a worry for both of them and Byakko asked, "Did Benkei follow us here?"

"No. He got knocked out, I think." Musaki replied.

"By who?"

"By you."

Byakko looked completely surprised and dumbfounded to hear that he actually knocked out Benkei and he asked, "How'd I do that?"

"Yeah, you had this huge powerful attack and I thought you guys were unconscious until I saw a strange light coming in from behind and all I remember was seeing this Benkei dude...whatever his name is...getting blasted by this power. And I thought to myself, 'Did this kid do that?' I figured right there and then that this is no ordinary tiger." Musaki added.

Byakko blinked a few times and then, he lets out a heavy sigh thinking that because of this, he's gonna be looked at as nothing but a monster. And then he said, "And you're gonna run away from me like everyone else, huh?"

Musaki looked confused by that answer and he replied, "No. Why would I do that?"

Byakko kept silent for a minute and Musaki realized that there might be something underneath his head to make him think that way and then, Santiago steps in and said, "We're kinda not used to people defending us because people tend to see us as monsters because of the fact that we're monsters that only live to kill people. Byakko might've thought that you'd see him as like a savage beast or something."

Musaki widened his eyes at that assumption he was supposedly thinking and it really shattered him to think he would say something like that to him. One look into Byakko's eyes and he could see that it was filled with suffering and hurt and he responded, "I would never call you anything like that."

The thought of that made Byakko sit down on the floor, face away from Musaki and tried his best to shield whatever emotion possible to keep from having Musaki breaking his wall down, but Musaki sat down next to him and puts his hand on his shoulder, making Byakko flinch for a minute and he said, "I can tell that you're scared."

It was like something was reaching deep down inside of Byakko that started to come out and he silently nodded his head because he knew that he was right...he was scared of something. The young white tiger made a big sigh and he responded, "I'm scared of myself."

"Why would you?"

Then, Byakko looked at Musaki in the eyes and he responded, "Because...I don't know how to control my powers and people see me as a beast...that's only born to kill and harm people. I don't wanna hurt anyone or anything."

Musaki could tell that this kid has been suffering a lot and it was already like he wanted to do something to help him out and then Byakko went on to say, "I'm just nothing but a savage monster."

"You are not a savage monster or beast. You're just a kid that needs help controlling himself." Musaki said, in a gentle tone.

Santiago walks in and he sits down on the ground and said, "They often see us that way. They saw that I'm a savage wolf that can't control myself and ends up bringing harm to people, even when I don't do anything. People tend to see the fact that I'm a demon that killed his own parents when I was born."

Musaki widened his eyes at that and then turns to Byakko and he then said, "I've been told that I killed my parents as well and it just stuck with the fact that I could never forgive myself for what I have done...that and countless other times I end up losing control of my power multiple times. Everyone has the same thought...that the world would be a better place without us."

Musaki felt his heart breaking for these kids and then he asked, "Then, why do you put up with that Benkei guy?"

"He raised us, thinking that everyone in the world see us as monsters and that we should live like this away from everyone else." Santiago added.

Musaki seemed shocked to hear that Benkei took them in and he asked, "He told you that?"

"Look at us. What do you see?" asked Byakko.

He looked at both of them in the eyes and when he saw some of their tears falling down, he immediately knew he saw what he saw, but didn't see. He then looks into Byakko's eyes and never saw anything monsterous about him at all, just eyes welling up with tears and he told Byakko, "What I see in you is that you're a misunderstood, lonely person that wants to feel loved."

Then, he looks into Santiago's eyes and realize that he's not a monsterous wolf and with one look in his scarred eye and muzzle that there was something beneath him and it wasn't evil. It was one of hurt, suffering and pain all around him. Then, he responds, "You're not a monsterous wolf. What I also see in you is the same way I mentioned your tiger friend. You just wanna feel loved, too right?"

Both boys nodded their heads and then Musaki told them, "Don't worry about a thing. You're safe now."

Musaki picks up his wet rag and it made Byakko back away a little bit, thinking he might harm him but then he explains that he just wants to clean up his wounds and he proceeded to do so. Byakko looks up and sees that he's just helping him out and Musaki said, "What's your name?"

"I'm Byakko. My birth name is japanese for white tiger." Byakko responded.

"And I'm Santiago." Santiago added.

As Musaki cleaned both of them up, Byakko then said to Musaki, "Why weren't you scared of me after you saw my powerful attack?"

"Because I can tell that you're a half-demon." Musaki replied.

Hearing that made Byakko set his ears down and felt like he was rejected already and he asked, "How'd you know?"

"Trust me, I know someone who's been in the same train of thought as you are. Afraid that you'll lose control of your powers and hurt them and after you'll forget the people you care about." Musaki replied.

Byakko felt really sad knowing that once again Musaki was right. Then, Musaki continued on saying, "If I was scared of you, I wouldn't have brought you guys here."

Byakko lets out a deep sigh and he asked, "Is anyone else around here?"

Musaki then thought about the fact that Po, Shifu and the Five might freak out when they find out that they were here without them knowing about it or maybe kick them out of there and he said, "Pretty much...but I'm sure they won't even notice. But don't worry, once I explain everything to them, I'm hoping that they'll keep you guys here."

For Byakko and Santiago, they felt as if they found someone that isn't scared of them or being judged because of the way they are and that it was worth escaping Benkei to get rescued there and Byakko looks at Musaki and said, "Thanks for rescuing us."

Musaki lets out a small smile at this and he replied, "You're welcome."

* * *

><p>Was that great or what? On the next chapter, Musaki will show both of them around the Jade palace.<p>

Also, sorry if I'm late posting this! I'll post the next chapter later today! My sincere apologies!


	4. New World with Open Eyes

Musaki shows Byakko and Santiago a totally different place outside of their element.

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: New World with Open Eyes<p>

Minutes later, Musaki pops out of his room, hoping that the coast is clear and that there were no movements in one of the barracks and then he comes out with Byakko and Santiago and as they were walking, they definitely knew that they weren't in Benkei's quarters anymore. They looked around those rooms and Byakko was definitely unsure about what it might feel like to be in a new place with new people because he's sorta afraid that he'll be rejected or picked on or be called a monster, which is something he absoultely takes as a personal jab.

"So...where are we anyway?" asked Santiago.

Musaki looks back at Santiago and he replied, "We're in the barracks of the Jade Palace where all of the kung-fu masters sleep and stuff. After living here for nearly 4 years, I got used to what it is."

And as they headed outside, they continued walking their way and luckily for Musaki, everyone else has been going out doing some errands and stuff so it'll be much easier for him to show them around a little and then introduce them to the rest later. All three of them headed to the Sacred Hall of Warriors and as they entered, Byakko and Santiago cannot believe their eyes on what they saw for the first time. With widened eyes, they definitely figured that they have never seen anything like this before in their lives.

"Whoa...this must be one of those fancy places." Santiago added.

Musaki shrugged for a minute and he said, "Fancy, yes...but they've really been around for hundreds of years, I guess. And this is where they keep all of their kung-fu memoribilia and ancient stuff."

That struck Byakko to the core for a minute and he asked, "Kung-fu?"

"Yeah." Musaki replied.

"I kinda have fighting skills in me, but I don't use it much because I'm sorta afraid that I might use my powers to break something or harm anyone." Byakko replied.

That made Musaki froze for a minute to know that Byakko does have some sort of fighting skills and he was a little curious to see how and asked, "How good are you at your training skills?"

Byakko figured this would be something he wished he didn't answer and replied, "With my powers, very quick."

Then, Musaki decided to test him out and then he looked at Byakko and said, "You two...come with me to the training hall."

Byakko widened his eyes a bit when he heard those two words come out of Musaki's mouth and asked, "You guys have a training hall?"

As they entered there, he walked them inside of there and both Byakko and Santiago were surprised on how huge it looks like for the first time with a whole lot of training equipment and such. Musaki then got in front of them and he said to Byakko, "Show me your skills."

Byakko took a deep breath and tried his best not to cause an accident on the training hall as he went forward and let loose. He did some quick moves by doing flips, tumbles, spins, kicks and then when he did the backflips, pangs of fire spurted out of him as he shoots it in the air as he lands on the ground. Musaki could not believe what he was seeing with those fire powers and he dropped his jaw in deep shock and he asked, "Did you do that?"

Byakko realized that he exposed his powers in front of Musaki thinking that he might've done something wrong and he said, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to..."

"That was freakin' wicked awesome!" Musaki shouted, happily.

Santiago and Byakko looked at Musaki with such confusion as to why he was stoked up about his powers and Musaki said, "Dude, between you and my friend Ichi, I'd say you two would be like a power team."

Santiago then comes in front of Byakko and leaps up in front and did some turns and went to the other side of the hall, landing at his feet to the ground and did a back-leap and just went for the amazing kung-fu moves and made it look like he was a pro at it.

Musaki lets out a slight chuckle and he asked, "Have you guys done any training at all?"

Byakko shrugged for a bit and he said, "That's sort of the thing...when you're a half-demon, you have no formal training."

"Yeah, I'm that way too." Santiago added.

"Well...this training hall is where you'll spend most of your time...if I ask Shifu to let you stay here." Musaki said, chuckling.

Then, they all went out of the training hall and Musaki led them to the Sacred Peach Tree and the boys could not believe what they were seeing...a whole tree full of peaches. Santiago looked up and he was mesmerized by those peaches and asked, "That has gotta be the best peach tree ever."

"Oh, but the peaches ain't the best part." Musaki added.

Byakko walks up and he sees the entire view of the valley from there and it was like nothing he's ever seen before. And from the ground-up, it's like seeing another part of the world with new eyes...something he's never been able to grasp or even experience throughout all of his years hiding from the rest of the world and Benkei. Santiago overlooks the view and he felt a sudden sharp exhale coming out of him and just couldn't help but take his breath away from all of this.

"I've...never seen such a...great view before." Santiago said.

Musaki smiled at both of them and he said, "Isn't that really cool, though? It's usually a good place for a lot of reasons; just to think, get away from anything or a perfect excuse to have some alone time."

As they got down the stairs out of the Peach Tree and headed back to the bunkhouse, Musaki sees Arizona walking his way back in and he feared that if he ever found out about Byakko and Santiago coming in without the rest knowing them about it, he would get into big trouble. Byakko looks up at the grey wolf and he asked, "Who's he?"

"That's Arizona." Musaki replied, whispering.

Santiago looks up at him and it was the first time he's ever seen someone from his species and mistook his fur color as the same color and asked, "Isn't he a white wolf?"

Musaki scoffed at that question and he said, "No. He's a grey wolf. All wolves' fur colors are different; brown, black, white, grey."

When all three of them went inside, they snuck in hoping that they wouldn't get caught and they tiptoed their way to Musaki's room until the door opens in another room and Byakko was quick to react as he brought out his sword and threw it across the door and to Musaki's shock, it nearly landed on Arizona's spiky hair.

Arizona looked up in shock as he sees Byakko for the first time and then stares at Musaki, who was a little embarassed about this and he said, "Hey, Zona...we've got some new members here."

"Musaki...who are they?" asked Arizona, with a shaky, shocked tone.

Musaki clears his throat and he said, "This is Byakko and Santiago. Guys, this is Arizona. He's a friend."

Santiago walked across Arizona and sniffed him to make sure he was good, which in turn made the grey wolf a little bit uncomfortable on this and then he asked, "You're not a murderer, are you?"

That question was sorta too random for Arizona to answer and he replied, "No. I'm not a murderer."

Byakko takes the sword back and he placed it back to his room and then he came out of the room, looked at Arizona straight in the eye and said, "Sorry if I scared you. I just thought you'd be...you know, trying to like harm us or beat the crap out of us."

"Nah, I'd never do that." Arizona replied.

Pretty soon, Musaki explained to Arizona everything about where'd he get them from as well as Byakko and Santiago explaining everything about themselves and why they ran away and Arizona quickly got the message from this and he looked at Musaki and said, "I never thought you guys would get through something like this."

Byakko sighed heavily and he told Arizona, "It's nothing I can't deal with. I've been pretty much called a monster my whole life and for a while, I actually believed what the others told me because of my powers."

Arizona looked at Byakko's eyes and he could tell that he's been looked at very wrongly and he puts his hand on his shoulder and he said, "I know this much...you're not a monster. You guys are welcome here."

Musaki then looks at Arizona and said, "So now that we've stated the obvious, how are we gonna tell this to Shifu and the others?"

Arizona stared at Musaki like he was dragging him into something and he asked, "We?"

"Well, I'll figure something out." Musaki added.

Later on, Byakko was the only one walking through the hallways to look around a little bit more and all of a sudden, he hears someone coming in and he hid himself in order to get ready for something to happen and when he looks up, he seeks another tiger coming in and he felt like it might be someone from Benkei's comrades to hunt for him and as the footsteps get closer and closer, he was ready for takedown as he jumps out of nowhere and punches it in the face.

When he sees the person, he didn't expect a female tiger to come in and when she looked at him, she got up and asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Byakko. Who are you?" Byakko answered, snarling.

"I'm Tigress!"

Byakko growls at her and lets his claws out, ready for a beat down and all of a sudden, Musaki pops out and sees Tigress and Byakko going at each other and he groans loudly and said, "You have got to be kidding me."

* * *

><p>Uh-oh! What's gonna happen now?<p> 


	5. A Secret Aura

We get to learn a little bit more about Byakko in this chapter. Something you never expected before...

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: A Secret Aura<p>

Musaki was afraid to see this happening; Tigress or someone from the Jade Palace finding out about Byakko and Santiago being there without them knowing it and as Byakko was about to fight Tigress, he tells him, "Byakko, please think about what you're gonna eventually deal with."

Byakko growls at him in anger and he said, "Is she coming for me?"

Tigress looked at him remotely shocked at that assumption and she replied, "Coming for you? I just met you! But I think you'll meet my friends; discipline and sacrifice!"

Byakko suddenly breaks out his sword and twirls it around as if he was ready for some bloodshed and when he raised it directly at her, he said, "Well, your sacrifice will be cut off by my sword that has the same name because you do not know me!"

Tigress snarled at him, thinking that he might actually assassinate her and Musaki was afraid to see this turn into a bloodbath very quickly because of this and he was also gonna use his daikojin powers to take her down some and just as he was about to get ready, he closed his eyes and sweat starts coming out of him and for some reason, it was as if he was having second thoughts about using his powers because he knows that it might be what everyone else might see him.

And as if the world froze for a second, he heard a voice echoing through his brain whispering, 'You can't reach your true potential without me.'

Byakko lets out a small gasp and realized that he was about to cause a huge horror warfare of his life and slowly puts his sword down and hesitated about using that power of his to aim at Tigress, who's still ready to take some shots. He backs away from her and lets fear take over him feeling as if he was this close to doing something he will most likely regret later on and just runs away from her before the spar could even begin.

That left Tigress completely dumbfounded and also curious to know what was up with that and then she turns to Musaki and asked, "Who was he?"

Musaki lets out a nervous exhale over this and when he looked at Tigress, she could tell that he most likely knew something that she didn't and then he replied, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Meanwhile, Byakko ran his way out of the bunkhouse and he just felt a surge of fear coming in him because he was this close to slaying Tigress because he couldn't control himself and that thought kept playing over his head and that he might live in guilt for the rest of his life if that ever happened. And as he kept going, he soon bumped into someone and when he looked up, he sees someone totally unexpected...the Soothsayer.

The Soothsayer took a good look at Byakko for a minute and the young white tiger felt as if she was about to harm him and for some reason, she could analyze the tiger's body language and she could see in his eyes that he is indeed a daikojin. She then asked him, "Are you by any chance a daikojin?"

Byakko was shocked to hear this come out of the old goat's mouth and he asked, "How'd you know that?"

The Soothsayer convinced Byakko to follow him for a minute and he reluctantly accepted her offer as he followed her over to the other side of the Jade Palace and dropped a ginormous bombshell on him.

"The reason I know that you are a daikojin is that your father was one."

Byakko could not believe what she just said in front of him and he didn't even know how to respond to this and said, "How do you know so much about my dad?"

The Soothsayer turned to the young tiger and she said, "That is not important. But I do know this; you have his powers and that he is known for a much greater strength and many people have always feared by many and he was one of the three generations who was able to contain the daiokojin within saying that the bloodline passes down to only the strong hearted ones."

Byakko became really confused on what she said because he's never heard anything like this before and he asked, "What does it all mean?"

The Soothsayer lets out a deep exhale and looks at Byakko in the eyes and sees that he looks just like his father, but much younger and a little bit more introverted and she continued on to say, "That they're not afraid of him until he slowly seeps out of the daikojin aura."

She then shows him some different auras in random colors coming through him to determine which one it is. Byakko looked at it with much amazement and surprise to know that this really is the key of his daikojin. She looked at him and said, "Each daikojin comes in three different auras; a little daikojin would be a light green, a half daikojin would be a bluish green and a full daikojin would be a purple one."

When the daikojin colors were shown, Byakko was mesmerized by how it looked and then he asked, "Which part am I?"

"Just between a little and a half. But I know for a fact that you have a good heart despite a lot of people thinking otherwise." the Soothsayer added.

Byakko lets out a huge sigh over this and his eyes became hollow and they were lowered down a little, fearing that he might be doomed to be known as a monster and he asked, "How can they even see it?"

"The daikojin is inside you. It's strength is compared to even a god's strength because your father was one of the three bloodlines to control its power."

Suddenly, he comes to a realization that this is the reason why many people feared him thinking that his powers might harm something or someone because his powers are extremely stronger and a lot more fierce that isn't even stoppable. Then, she comes over to him and Byakko was close to tears about never realizing that his dad was a daikojin as the reason for those powers and he asked, "Am I really gonna end up having a dark side of me?"

"No. Your father had a balance, but since he has a good heart, his daikojin is good." the Soothsayer said.

It was like the Soothsayer knew his dad really well and she then went on to say, "I've known your father personally and he was a good person. He was also afraid that one day you might not be able to control your power and other people will see you as a monster...because some people called him that when he was much younger."

Suddenly, half of it made sense that his father didn't want him in the same way he did, even though he isn't meant to hurt anyone or anything.

"Before you were even born, he told me that he would always love you very much, no matter what aura your daikojin is...because you're born this way. And I know that Benkei character filled your head with such hate and bitterness, but I know for a fact you're not one of them." the Soothsayer added.

"I know." Byakko whispered, tearfully.

"Although you may be misunderstood and almost got killed by this Benkei character, just remember this...always favor forgiveness over revenge. Just find it within yourself and surround yourself with really good people that are willing to take care of you." the Soothsayer added.

Byakko walks up and he takes a deep breath and hopes everything the Soothsayer say will enter his head and he never really knew that there was a daikojin inside of him before that might have provoked others to get away from him because of his powers most of his life. Soon after she left, he then looks back at the bunkhouse and felt like he was gonna take whatever's coming his way.

He lets out a deep breath and slowly walked back in and as soon as he came in, he sees Musaki standing there, looking a little bit nervous for him and Musaki then asked, "What was that all about?"

Byakko blinked his eyes twice and then looked at Musaki in the eyes and said, "I just thought that that tiger was with Benkei."

It was Musaki's turn to be entirely confused about this and he asked, "Why would someone like her work for a doofus, bloodthristy mess of a tiger that nearly tried to kill you and Santiago when I first rescued you guys?"

"I'm sorry. Sometimes...I let my powers get the best of me and it often leads me in trouble...like it always does." Byakko said, with guilt on his voice.

Looking at the guilty expression on Byakko's face really made Musaki think that this kid has been through a lot more things that are considered the worst case scenarios. All of a sudden, Tigress busted the door open and had her eyes set on Byakko and she angrily stared at both him and Musaki, but mostly Musaki for bringing him in without her or any of the masters' knowledge.

Just then, Santiago comes in there, adding more fury in her and Musaki was nervous for these two and she asked, "Where did they come from?"

Musaki lets out a slight chuckle and he then told her, "It's kind of a long story..."

* * *

><p>For any of you that don't know what a daikojin is, it's a transcended being and it's obtained by what race and type they are. I sorta got this from vampire1031 while we chatted on Facebook. I'll be honest, I had no idea what that was the first time he told me. There's more coming up soon.<p> 


	6. The Origin of the Daikojin

And here's where the Soothsayer explained the entire origin to the kung-fu masters. After you read it, your minds will say 'What...?'

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: The Origin of the Daikojin<p>

Musaki tensed up a little bit about what she was gonna say directly in front of Tigress about Byakko and just as he's about to speak up, in comes Santiago letting out only a single growl as he went around Tigress and with one angry look on his eye, he stood in front of Byakko for protection if something was to go down.

Then, Santiago looked up at her and he lets out a very low growl and said, "If you ever come near my friend at all...I will personally rip you apart limb from limb."

Tigress snarled at him back thinking that she might do the same with the young white wolf and Musaki got in the middle of this as he lets out a nervous laugh, then turns to Santiago and said, between clenched teeth, "Not helping."

Tigress wasn't gonna wait any longer for Musaki to get an answer and her patience level was about to drop very quickly and she said, "Enough stalling! I want the truth and I want it now!"

"You can't handle the truth!" Musaki shouted.

Tigress looked very shocked and outraged to hear that come out of Musaki's mouth when he told her she can't handle the truth and looking in her angry eyes, he could see why. He recognized what he just did and looked very scared to see that he raised his voice at her for no reason. He chuckled nervously and cleared his throat and asked in a meek tone, "Too soon?"

"Way too soon." Tigress snarled.

Musaki took a deep breath and tried to swallow his fear and just then, the other kung-fu masters came in to see what the fuss is all about and when Po notices both Byakko and Santiago in front of Musaki, he couldn't help but notice how tense this situation is and he asked, "Who are they, Lil' Saki?"

With enough confidence to finally gather his thoughts, he calmly replied, "This is Byakko and Santiago. I just rescued them today."

Hearing the term 'rescued' came as a shock to pretty much everyone, even Tigress and she couldn't believe that Musaki would actually rescue two strangers and she asked, "Rescued them from what?"

"I was exploring after training and I was originally gonna hang out at the Wu Dan Mountains for a little independent exercising and I noticed that there was a tree burning, which I thought was a little unusual for me so I thought that I might investigate a little bit to see what was going on and it was then that I heard some screaming and fighting coming from this part and when I got there, I was sickly appalled to see two young kids being beaten and almost on the verge of being maliciously murdered by this overgrown rat tiger dude. When he knocked them out, I stepped in to defend them and that dude referred to them as demon menaces, which I know he referred to himself and we fought a little bit. And just as I was about to knock him out, he knocked me out. I didn't know what happened after but then this bright power woke me up and somehow this dude was beaten up and when I turned around, I saw that this little tiger cub had wiped him out very quickly. I had no other choice but to take them somewhere safe because of the situation they were in." Musaki explained.

Now that they got their answer, Byakko stepped in front of Tigress and he respectfully bowed to her and said, "I'm sorry if I caused all of this trouble. When I saw Benkei trying to kill him, I had to use every ounce of my power to wipe him out really hard. I thought that you might be in his ranks."

"Why would I be in that person's place?" asked Tigress.

The young tiger looked at Tigress with a huge pang of guilt hanging over his head and he said, "Because I thought you might be one of his spies."

Hearing this made Tigress a little more concerned of what he was gonna say and on the look in his eyes, she can tell that this cub had suffered a lot and then Santiago comes in and tells her, "He rescued us from him and brought us here so we can at least have a safe place unlike where we lived for so long."

Viper went up to both of them and she asked, "Where did you come from?"

"Somewhere in China called Ziao Xi...a secluded part this area." Byakko replied.

Musaki widened his eyes as he recalled heading in that place where there was a lot of fog that that place might be close to the Valley of Peace and he never really expected to enter a place close to there where he first got them. Santiago then said, "We were raised in fear of Benkei because he claims the world sees us like you guys do now."

Mantis grew confused on what he said and asked, "What are you saying exactly?"

Byakko knew this would be a difficult time to even get this out of his system and he said, "As monsters."

Soon enough, the comment triggered a pang of surprise and also empathy for both Byakko and Santiago and Tigress looked at Byakko and judging by the last part he said, she lets out a deep sigh as she got on one knee and said, "Who told you that?"

"Benkei raised me and Santiago when we were young, though we never really met until he defended me from a bunch of kids who called me a monster or savage beast that doesn't deserve to be loved or anything." Byakko said, in a sad tone.

"Why would anyone call you that?" asked Monkey.

"Perhaps I might know."

Just then, they all turn around to see the Soothsayer come in alongside Master Shifu, who was also surprised to see both Byakko and Santiago at the same time and the look on the grandmaster's face was a little bit of surprise and also much more validated to overhear everything that was going on, especially when Musaki rescued both of them from that evil white tiger.

Musaki looked up and he saw Shifu standing there and he started chuckling nervously as he stared at him and he said, "Hey, Shifu."

"Musaki, I heard that you took these boys in here while we were gone." Shifu said, in a stern voice.

"Yes..." Musaki replied, hesitantly.

"And the fact that you rescued them both was remarkable. But you know than to just hide them from us without us knowing it." Shifu added.

Musaki hung his head down in sorrow and he said, "Yes, master."

The Soothsayer then walked towards both Byakko and Santiago then looks at the other kung-fu masters and even Po, with whom she's very surprised to see. She looked up at Po and she asked, "Have you managed to keep up with your inner peace, panda?"

"Sorta." Po replied.

The Soothsayer made an amused chuckle after hearing an answer like that and then, she turns to everyone and she said, "The reason I have said I have the answer to Byakko is that that he is one of the three great bloodlines of the daikojin clan."

Everyone but Byakko was slightly confused to hear exactly what just came out of the soothsayer's mouth and Po asked, "What's a daikojin? Is it like some sort of fruit?"

Musaki gave him a huge 'dude-you-gotta-be-kidding-me' glares and just slapped him in the nose and replied, "It is not a fruit, dude!"

She turns her attention to Byakko and she said, "Your father was one of three most powerful beings of this power and years before you were born, there was a great war that had their own reasons to rule, but in the end their own desires ended up not killing them, but sealing them in stone."

To further see this in a visual point of view, the Soothsayer wanted everyone to come outside and when they got there, she pulls up her white flames as the scene unfolds in front of Byakko to see and when he saw his father there, he couldn't help but looked surprised to see this was happening years before he was even born.

"There were three great warriors of unimaginable strength; each one wanted to rule the nations who had good intentions at the time, but the greed of power overwhelmed then and thus they fought bringing countless deaths across the land."

They then watched as the three warriors were fighting who had wanted to rule the nation more than anything, but the overwhelming greed of power somehow managed to get the best of them as they fought themselves to determine which one has the better power, but unfortuantely it all came crashing down by one single sonic power that caused a ginormous implosion, bringing in so many deaths all across the land and all that was left were body parts mutilated and bodies unmoving. The only sole survivor of all this was Byakko's father and he looked around in horror to see so many of his soliders were killed because of those powers.

He shuddered at this thought and as he looked up, every single soldier was dead and slaughtered. He then looked at his hands and realized that what he had seen and done provoked him into thinking that he was responsible for all of this over arguing with the other two powerful beings over who wants to rule the nation. The overwhelming set of emotion starts to kick in as he was brought to tears over this whole thing that he was personally close to his soliders, whom he had grown fond and loved as his friends rather than mere pawns of this whole thing.

He closed his eyes as the tears fell down quickly into his eyes and whispered to himself, "Never again..."

He made that promise to himself that because of his power, he would never get involved with war again because it was extremely pointless and that he wouldn't want what he had done get in the way of anything that life hits him down.

After this, he walks to his home; an abandoned shed and he just stood there, looking as if everything had been changed and he slowly walks around until he passes a mirror and when he took a look at his reflection, he sees something that would eventually haunt him...he sees himself as a monster because of this greed for power with the other beings. He turned away from himself and just felt what would happen if his son would turn out the way he did.

Unlike any of the daikojin warriors, Byakko's father was the only one that had a great heart and that because of this war, he made himself as a monster before using a certain technique that only the Byakko clan can use which uses the purity in the heart of the user to cast a purification barrier which turns all the people with hatred in their heart to stone, but in exchange the user loses their lives as well.

With that thought in mind, he decided to take the time to write a certain scroll in which he could tell his future son that there is a good power in the Byakko clan of his good daikojin and when he gets older, he will learn to use them to protect the people he will one day care for based on the colors of his aura.

'My son...you have great potential. Please don't take the friends you make for granted. Do everything in your power to protect them. That is your daikojin, you ascend when you are in the greatest of peril. Awaken, my son...awaken.'

As the white flames went off, the Soothsayer went onto say, "You have a good daikojin. Take heed on your father's words."

All of the other kung-fu masters looked in surprise and amazement after hearing all of this and how they learned about the daikojin in just one day. Shifu lets out a big exhale and said, "I had no idea daikojins existed."

"Neither did we." Crane added.

"And I'm half japanese. I should know these type of things by now." Musaki added, on the verge of questioning his own half heritage.

Then, the Soothsayer added, "Also, Master Thundering Rhino...may he rest in peace...was also a daikojin."

Po looked super surprised to hear that Master thundering Rhino was a daikojin and he said, "Whoa...the name still confuses me, but that sounds really awesome that Master Thundering Rhino was a dailoman."

The Soothsayer looked up at Po's misuse of words and she lets out an amused chuckle and said, "You'll get it someday."

Byakko was speechless after seeing some of the images that the Soothsayer played for him and the others and he gets really, really afraid that he might be in the same fate his father faced before that his powers might be enough to destroy and wipe out everyone he will grow to care for. He backs away slowly and just takes off running again to hide himself from everyone.

Seconds later, a sudden growl appear out of nowhere and all of them were shocked to see the evil white tiger Musaki mentioned coming to the barracks of the Jade Palace and Musaki was ticked off to se him for the second time and he drew up his sai and asked, "How did you get in this palace?"

Benkei snarled at Musaki and he said, in a pit of arrogance, "Where is Byakko?"

* * *

><p>What does Benkei want? Find out next!<p> 


	7. Strength in Power

Here we have a battle where Benkei enters the Jade Palace unannounced.

Sorry if I'm late...again. Don't wanna keep you guys waiting.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Strength in Power<p>

Musaki looked at Benkei with a combination of hate and fury in his eyes, but all done in a protective way to defend Byakko and Santiago and he knew that if that evil white tiger came for them at any given moment to strike them down, he do whatever he can to make sure he'll never harm anyone at all. He drew out his sai and looked at him square in the eye and asked, "And what if I don't?"

Benkei growled at him in a fierce way as he breaks out his sword and said, "Oh, you're gonna wish you never said that! You do not want to see my ugly side, panda!"

Musaki scoffed at him as he looked at his entire face and he replied, "That's your ugly side? I thought I already looked at it."

Shifu knew that this would take ultimate drastic measures as he stepped up to the white tiger and he said, "Leave the premises immediately or fight."

All of the other kung-fu masters were ready for an ultimate takedown with Benkei and the white tiger actually laughed at all of them for thinking they might actually bring him down and he said, "You cannot stop me! Not until I get what I want!"

Tigress snarled at him and she said, "The only thing you'll get is your face on the pavement."

Byakko immediately went back to the room and he was shocked to see Benkei coming back in and the evil white tiger snarled at him and quickly went to him and said, "Byakko...you and Santiago are asking for a death wish."

Snatiago quickly went in front of Byakko and snarled at Benkei's face and the evil white tiger snarled at Santiago's face back as a way to intimidate him yet again. He looks around everyone else and he could tell that there was gonna be a fight brewing in.

"How would they even accept you two here? They're gonna do nothing but see the fact that you two are monsters in their world!" Benkei snarled.

Tigress immediately stepped in front of them and she snarled at him and said, "I take offense to that name! You're the actual monster here!"

Benkei looked at her straight in the eyes and he said, "Stay out!"

Monkey then told him, "Big mistake, dude!"

Byakko was about to tense up and got in front of Byakko and told him, "We don't need you anymore. We've had to put up with your crap all these years and we have no regrets running out of your place!"

Benkei started laughing at him and hearing that laugh made Byakko really pissed off because he always scorned at him all those years and he said, "When will you get it? There will be no one in the world to even care for you! And if you think these people would be the ones that do, you must be one stupid tiger!"

Byakko roared at him loudly and just felt like he was about to bring in something he should've used all these years. He leaped up to him, punched him in the face, slammed his face against the wall, flipped him hard on the ground and used his inner kung-fu moves to break him out of the barracks. Benkei stopped in his tracks to beat him up and just sparred with him and just as he was about to draw his sword out, Byakko mustered up the courage to use some of his darkness powers to strike him down hard and it sent him flying in the air and he leaped up and swatted him midway through the air and out of the palace.

Byakko panted heavily as he took a breath and shook it off really quickly and said to himself, "I am a daikojin."

Just then, every single of the kung-fu masters saw the whole thing and all of them were in shock to see that Byakko actually did this and that was enough to make Crane's jaw drop down to the ground and it made Musaki shocked to see that he actually did that and he said, "Now that...how did you do that?"

Byakko sighed heavily and he replied, "When something gets me mad like me being messed with or someone else messing with someone for no reason, I use the power of darkness to just release it to take aim at it."

All of them were remotely shocked to see this come out by experience and Crane was still shocked and still had his beak dropped down and Arizona looked over and said, "Sounds like you know this from experience."

"Yeah." Byakko said, letting out a huge sigh.

Shifu was seriously impressed with his moves and he said, "You know...I think Byakko has got some potential. I would like to hear more about this daikojin of yours."

Musaki was hoping that he heard what he hoped he heard and asked, "So...does that mean Byakko and Santiago can stay?"

Shifu lets out a heavy sigh in front of Musaki and replied, "Let's just say that both of them are in dire need of training."

That made Musaki happy, so much so that he picked up Shifu and gave him a huge hug, which almost choked him and Shifu said, "Musaki..."

Musaki lets him go and chuckled in embarassment and said, "Sorry. I guess I got it from Po."

Shifu takes a deep breath and then clears his throat and said, "Well, if Benkei comes back, we'll have to train extra hard until the big battle."

"Yes, master!" they exclaimed.

Meanwhile, the blast from Byakko's darkness power landed Benkei back to the forest and he could tell that there were signs of the tiger cub's daikojin coming forth and he just cannot wait to bring him down to oblivion and when he looks up at the Jade Palace further away from the Valley of Peace, he lets out a deep snarl and knew that as long as he remains there, it would be easier for him to take him down for one last time.

"Byakko...you and Santiago will definitely have your last days on earth when I'm through with you. You two will be mine and I will come back for you if it's the last thing I do. Just you wait." Benkei snarled, angrily.

* * *

><p>Trust me, there is gonna be a big fight between Benkei and Byakko later on in the story. It will be awesome, I promise.<p> 


	8. First Day of Training

Let's see how Byakko and Santiago's actual first day of training in the Jade Palace goes.

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: First Day of Training<p>

As the next morning dwells, Byakko feels the sun in his eyes as he lets out a slight soft groan as he woke up and sat up from his mat, yawning softly and scratching his back and when he got up out of his bed, Santiago gets himself up and wipes the sand from his eyes and then looks at Byakko and he asked, "So what do you think's gonna happen today?"

Byakko stretched his entire body out and he replied, "Some training, I think."

Santiago got himself out of bed and went behind Byakko and as they both stepped out of their room, they saw Master Shifu standing in front of all of the barracks and they felt completely freaked out that he stood there and thought that no one was watching. The grandmaster looked up at both of them and he said, "Morning, boys."

"Morning." they both said, in unison.

Shifu looked at Byakko in the eyes and he asked, "How'd you sleep?"

Byakko lets out a half-sluggish sigh and then responds, "Fine, I guess. It's just the first time I've ever slept in something that isn't near a cave."

Santiago nodded his head as well and he said, "I feel the same way too. We're kinda used to sleeping in a cave or even outside in the rain."

Shifu could tell that this is the first time they've ever been slept on a mat before or anything that's near a roof over their heads and judging by their experiences with that evil white tiger over the years, it was like he can give them something that never had before; something to call them home. But he shook off the feeling for a bit as he was still waiting for the other masters to come out of their rooms. Just then, they saw Musaki walking towards the hallways and Shifu greeted him almost immediately.

"Morning, Musaki. Up a little early, aren't ya?" asked Shifu, while bowing to him.

Musaki bowed to him back and he replied, "Just doing my usual yoga routine. This time, I did it about 2 hours early."

That rose Shifu's eyebrows to see that Musaki had done some yoga only 2 hours today and he never could've thought of doing something like this and he said, "Impressive."

Musaki looks down and sees both Byakko and Santiago standing there and he said, "Morning, guys. How ya doing?"

"Fine, I guess." Byakko said, scratching the back of his head.

Musaki could obviously see in their eyes that this is a new place for them and it might take some time to really get used to this routine they set in and he asked, "All new to you, huh?"

Santiago chuckled slightly at that and he said, "Completely. We always thought that no one in this entire world would even consider caring for both of us."

"Well...we're different from those people. It'll take some getting used to if you can follow what we do everyday." Musaki replied.

"And how's that?" asked Byakko.

Shifu cleared his throat for that question and he said, "We wake at sunrise and sleep by sunset."

"Then, there's training, chores, more training, mealtimes and more chores. But mostly training." Musaki added.

That added as a shock for them because they neevr quite really knew what that would be like and Shifu was prepared to give them a few things for them to teach, especially with Byakko. Based on his powers, he's gonna have to give him an extra push to make sure he can keep them in control, just like he did with Ichi. Shifu went up to them and he said, "As long as you follow what we do, there will be no problems."

Just then, Shifu went back to his position and then told Musaki, "Take Byakko and Santiago to the training hall. We'll meet you there in a while."

Musaki nodded his head and then they followed him to the training hall while Shifu quietly awaits for the masters to come out of the room and almost immediately, the morning gong bell rings and all of the masters pop out of the room saying, "Good morning, master!"

A large thud came on the other side of the room and they could tell that it's from Po's room and then he popped out of the room saying, "Good morning, Shifu!"

Just then, Arizona, Ruiz, Kazuo and Shing got out of the room as well and all of them said, "Morning, Master Shifu!"

But for some reason, everything stayed quiet as they saw Po standing there totally naked and Po didn't know what was going on and Shifu asked, "Po, where are your pants?"

Po looked down and completely felt embarassed by coming out with no pants and he said, "It was hot last night, master. So I decided at least for one night to sleep in the nude."

Everyone else kinda didn't want to see a naked panda standing there in front of everyone and the reaction in the hall was one of awkwardness, disturbing and a little freaked out and Po knew that it would be awkward for them and Shifu said, "Put some pants on, panda."

Just then, Musaki went back to the hallway and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Po's bare butt cheeks and looked very mortified to see this happening. He turned his focus on Shifu and he said, "Forgot my headband, master."

As Musaki went in the room, Shifu cleared his throat and said, "Head outside of the training hall to meditate, please. Hopefully, this will be enough to erase your memory banks."

As everyone despersed, Musaki got out of the room and got his headband on his head and left the room immediately and as Po got back to his room, Shifu shuddered at the image of his head of seing Po naked and said, "And so will mine."

An hour later, everyone did some serious training and Byakko was a little nervous to actually see this happening and just then, Shifu went up to the young white tiger and asked, "Do you have any training skills?"

Byakko looks at Shifu and he replied, "I don't think I have any formal training in me. Plus, I'm kinda too afraid to show off my powers."

Shifu could tell from the look in his eyes and he reminded of himself when Ichi was in that position and he said, "Can you give me some examples of your skills?"

"I'll...I"ll try." Byakko replied, nervously.

Byakko made his way to the dummy and he took a deep breath and just punched it out and kept swinging and kicking it until Shifu said that's enough. Byakko went up to Shifu and the grandmaster told him, "Excellent work. Now let's see about those powers of yours."

Santiago went where he was in case something might go down there and Shifu brought out a candle in front of him and he said, "Light up this candle."

When Shifu sets it down on the ground, Byakko sat down on the ground, closed his eyes and focused on the candle and within 10 seconds, he lit it. When he opened his eyes, he could see the candle already being lit.

"Well done." Shifu said.

Byakko slowly looked at Shifu and he never got a compliment for his powers before and he blinked twice and said, "Thanks."

Just then, Byakko decided to just go all-out by passing through every type of the training equipment he could to his advantage. He did some backflips, turns, kicks, punches and spins all around there and when he got back to the other side, all of the other kung-fu masters were deeply impressed by his moves, including Po and Musaki. Both of their jaws were dropped to the floor when he showed off some of his moves and Po exclaimed, "That was freakin' awesome!"

Musaki chuckled at this and said, "I'll say! I think you've got yourself a passion for kung-fu."

As the number of compliments came in from the others, Byakko stood there in disbelief that these people would actually like those skills of his, but for him he felt really good about it and he bowed to all of them for it. Just then, they see Santiago going at it as well and he leaped up the seven swinging clubs of instany oblivion, hung on the seven-talon rings and stood in front of the field of fiery death and even before the flames popped up, he was immediately vanished from there, which surprised all of them and got past the gauntlet of wooden warriors and headed back to where the others were standing there.

Shifu looked up at Santiago and he said, "Pretty impressive. I think you and Byakko are gonna have a great fit in this palace. With your powers and your quick skills, I think you two will be unstoppable."

Byakko and Santiago could not believe what just happened in one day that they finally felt accepted after all these years of ultimate suffering by Benkei and they bowed to him for respect and Shifu looked at Byakko and said, "I have a question for those powers of yours; when you used that power on Benkei, what was that?"

"Like I said, when something or someone gets me mad or pissed off, I use my darkness power to let it all out when I lose every ounce of control. All of my powers come out of me based on my mood." Byakko replied.

"It's true." Santiago agreed.

"What you say was Lunarkinese, my darkness power." Byakko added.

"But what about when you lit Shifu's candle?" asked Arizona.

"I'm Pyrokinese as well. Sometimes when I get really focused or if I concentrate during my own independent training, fire comes out of me and I engulf myself in flames although not all the way, but when I really focus hard." Byakko replied.

All of them were really surprised to actually hear what Byakko said and realized that he's no ordinary tiger, but he's one with so much powers that's really hard for him to control and Musaki said, "Sounds like you know this from experience, huh?"

"I'm a daikojin. I still have to learn about myself and learn how to keep my powers under control and after today, I might need some help." Byakko said.

Santiago went on to say, "Byakko's like my brother and we've been through a lot and we're hoping that maybe this will be the start of something new for us."

"If you both apply yourselves for your training, I think you will most likely find peace within yourselves." Shifu added.

Byakko felt really happy to hear him say that and just then, Tigress noticed that his body was full of light and when she touched his shoulder, she got zapped and electrocuted by him and it was so powerful that it struck her down hard and landed on the ground with her fur looking all fuzzy and full of shockwaves through her.

Mantis looked up and looked at Byakko and asked, "What was that?"

Byakko chuckled nervously and said, "Sorry. I'm electrokinese too. Sometimes when I'm really happy or excited about something, my inner body is like a lightning rod and then it just strikes at anything."

"Yeah, I've been shocked by him numerous times because of that." Santiago added.

Byakko scoffs amusedly and just shook it off and as he looked at a very electrocuted Tigress, he said, "Sorry about that. I also have electric powers."

Musaki looked at her and he started snickering at her and said, "I think you made her look extra crispy."

As Tigress got herself up, she tried walking but with each step, she gets shocked in the process as well got zapped again. Byakko figured that this might be a challenge to be careful with his powers and to control them.

"With that, that's enough training for today. You're dismissed." Shifu said.

* * *

><p>A little bit of humor never hurts. Next chapter, it'll have a turn for the angst.<p> 


	9. Walking in the Valley

Byakko takes a glance at the Valley of Peace for the first time, but even with someone with elemental powers has its fears of other people's opinion of themselves...even if they aren't looking at you or they don't know you. Don't we all get that feeling? Anyways, let's see...

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Walking in the Valley<p>

As the day goes on, Byakko was sitting in the Sacred Peach Tree, just taking some time to look at the entire valley and he sees parts of it for all the way down there and he just couldn't believe how far up this palace is and he felt as if getting a chance to actually fit in would be a huge obstacle for him to overcome because on the outside, he seems like he has his stuff together and that everything's cool but underneath it all, he has an exact fear of being seen as a monster or a demon because of his powers by some of the residents of the Valley of Peace.

He does want to see what it looks like because he's never been in a place like this, but isn't quite sure if he would be willing to because something might hold him back. Looking back on all the things he's had to go through dealing with the fact that he felt as if his parents abandoned him or that his powers was the cause of their death would get in the way of adapting to a new life. The young white tiger just felt like he was stuck between a rock and hard place to at least try to get used to living in a place full of peace and tranquility.

To ease his worries, he decided to make himself useful by trying to meditate, not just for strength but for finding peace within himself. He crossed his legs, puts his hands down on his knees, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and just concentrated. With each sense of focus, his entire body was engulfed with flames as it sets in on himself. But only 10 minutes in, he stops himself as the visions of flames played in his mind and he knew from there that it was something about his past.

Did he really kill his own parents? Was he what some of the people back in a near village sees him, as a monster or a savage beast that's destined to kill innocent people? Even the people he cares about?

Even finding inner peace wasn't gonna help him as those thoughts continue to haunt him entirely. He sighed heavily as he covered his face with his paws to make sure that no one would see him cry. Tears were immediately streaming out of his face as he lowers his head down in despair as the visions of his past suddenly sinks in.

Soon enough, he felt someone holding his shoulder and when he slowly turned up, he was surprised to find that it was Musaki. He quickly turned away, trying to wipe his tears away so he would see it, but Musaki already knew that there was something wrong with him.

"Are you okay, Byakko?" asked Musaki, in a gentle tone.

Byakko sighed heavily and he said, "Yeah, I'm cool."

Musaki could tell that he was pulling a fake smile and knew that that meant that he was hiding something from him and he asked, "You sure?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Byakko gets himself up and walks out of the peach tree with tears still coming down on his eyes. Musaki knew right there and then that he was sad about something and he wanted to find out what it was as soon as he gets back.

Meanwhile, Byakko was walking across the Valley of Peace with his hands on his pockets and tears were forming in his eyes, thinking about what might happen if someone in random order sees him as a monster or savage beast. That would be something he wishes he didn't want to live with for the rest of his life.

As he looks around, he sees the citizens there in a friendly yet happy mood and Byakko could tell that this is a happy place to live in, which is something he's been longing for in a long time. But soon enough, he felt so much doubt thinking that he'll never fit in with these kind of people because he wasn't sure how he can really deal with it because he was used to being hated, judged, ignored or even turned away throughout his whole life.

Then, he stopped and just stood there as other people pass by, going about their business. He then sees that he felt like he was lost, isn't sure where he is because this was a new territory for him and he wasn't sure how to cope with things like that.

He turns around and just walked back to where he was and this time, he walked towards the bridge and when he got there, he just stood on one side of it as he looked at the water and that's where he saw his own reflection. A million thoughts came out of his head that there were so many questions left unanswered for years and even though this is his first time walking to the Valley of Peace, he just felt a sense of insecurity of what people might think of him.

'Why am I so different from everyone else? Would I really fit in with these people? Is this how they live life; just full of happiness and stuff like no one's worried about anything?' Byakko thought.

He walks out of the bridge and went near the river just to look at himself again and he could tell from his reflection that he wasn't sure who he was; was he a person...or just a monster?

"Byakko?"

Just then, his ears perked up and as he looked up, he sees Po, Monkey and Crane standing near the bridge and he didn't exactly know how they found him but when he walked up to them, Crane was the first one to ask.

"What are you doing down there?" asked Crane.

Byakko lets out a sorrowful and worrisome sigh and he asked, "Am I a monster to you guys?"

All three of them looked at each other for a second and they really didn't know how to respond to that answer, but they knew he wasn't and he replied, "No. Why's that?"

"I was just walking down the valley and as I look around, I felt as if all the people here are just happy and so friendly." Byakko answered.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" asked Monkey.

"Nothing...but I'm not like them." Byakko added.

That seemed to shock the three of them to the core, especially Po. He looked at him and asked, "Why would you say you're not like them?"

"I'm something else. I look around these people and I ask myself, 'Do I really belong here?' Then, I looked at myself and wonder if I'm a person or if I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster. Everyone in the Valley of Peace are like family. It just takes some time to get used to it." Monkey explains.

Byakko nodded his head but the doubt still kicks into his head and he said, "What if...what if I lose control and...end up killing you guys? I wouldn't be able to live with that."

Po patted his head and said, "You could never do that. You're just a kind and gentle person."

"Am I? Am I really?" asked Byakko.

"Yes."

They kept walking and all of those thoughts in Byakko's head were fading a little, but the feeling was sticking around for long. Po decided that it would be a better time to help ease Byakko's mind for something he's never experienced before and he turned to Byakko and asked, "Ya hungry, buddy?"

Byakko stared at Po with a somewhat blank expression of asking such a random question until he heard his own stomach growling and he stared back at Po and he replied, "I guess."

"We're gonna take ya to my dad's noodle shop." Po added.

Byakko was actually surprised to hear that Po's dad owns a noodle shop across town and then Monkey added, "Once you get a taste of the Dragon Warrior's noodles, your taste buds will be in overdrive."

"By the way, today's his workday, so..." Crane added.

It seems like a stepping stone for Byakko, but he was somewhat looking forward to trying something he's never tried before and reluctantly said, "Yeah..."

Within minutes, they made it to the noodle shop and Byakko was completely nervous about the number of people sitting there, fearing that all eyes gonna be on him because they never saw a white tiger before, but as they walked in, all eyes were focused on Po, Crane and Monkey instead. But as they looked at Byakko, they all made the assumption that he might be a new recruit.

Just then, Po went by the kitchen and a very elated Mr. Ping runs over to him and hugs him tightly. The old goose looked at him and said, "And how is my son today?"

Po chuckled softly and replied, "Ready for work, dad."

Mr. Ping was so happy to hear him say that and when he looked up, he saw Crane and Monkey there and gave them a little wave and they waved back and then Mr. Ping had his eyes on on Byakko and he asked, "Who's the young tiger?"

"His name's Byakko. He's...a little shy around strangers because this is his first time in the Valley of Peace." Po replied.

"Oh...maybe I can give him a warm welcome." Mr. Ping said.

Po walked behind his dad and as soon as Mr. Ping went to the table where Crane and Monkey were and when he saw Byakko for the first time, he was his usual friendly, yet noodle-minded self as he introduced himself.

"Hello, young man. I am Mr. Ping and if there's anything I can do to make your service more pleasurable, please let me know." Mr. Ping said, happily.

Po was a little apprehensive that Byakko might shut him out, but amazingly, Byakko turns around and was a little stunned to see that Po's dad is a goose. Seeing that made him a little bit perplexed but when his stomach was growling again, he just looked at him and said, "This is my first time in a new place and I'm just...I don't really know what I want, really."

"How about some noodles?" Po asked.

"Sure."

"Don't forget about us!" Monkey exclaimed.

Po was actually a little relieved to see that Byakko's starting to open up a little and as he went back in the kitchen, he was still keeping his eyes on him wondering if he was ever gonna open up at any minute.

Minutes later, Po brought in four bowls of noodles at the table and sat down next to Byakko, thinking that he might need someone to sit with and as everyone got a bowl, Byakko stared at his and has neevr seen anything like it before. When he picked his spoon up and took the first bite of noodles, his taste buds were woken up like they have never woke up before.

He slowly turned to Po and asked, "You make these?"

Po looked at Byakko with a smile and he said, "Sure. They're really awesome to make and eat with."

Monkey grinned at both of them and then he said to Byakko, "Po's noodles are really amazing. From the first time I tried these out, I knew that this was may better than those steamed tofu stir-fry we've used to have."

Crane nodded his head in agreement and said, "Yeah, I always hated those things. With this...even if Po wasn't the Dragon Warrior, he'd still serve us with these noodles every single year."

As Byakko ate some more of it, he felt as if he wanted to savor every last morsel of it and as he took a sip of the noodle broth, he was unaware that a string of noodle was near his whiskers. Monkey looked up and tried to conceal his laughter hoping that Byakko wouldn't think he's making fun of him. When he looked up, he saw Monkey staring him like crazy and he asked, "What are you looking at?"

Po looked at Byakko and sees a little piece of noodle hanging from his nose and he said, "You got a little..."

Byakko reached in and he suddenly sees a string of noodle hanging above his nose and he removes it and just puts it in his mouth and his cheeks were blushing red with embarassment that it actually happened and Monkey said, "You're funny, kid."

"Why didn't you guys humilate me?" asked Byakko, in surprise.

Crane was take aback by that comment and he asked, "Why would we humiliate you? It's not like you've done anything to embarass us."

"We just thought you had a sense of humor." Monkey added.

It was really new to him that they were accepting him as a person and not for something else and Byakko could tell that it would take some time getting adjusted to and Po patted his head and said, "Don't worry, buddy. We're all here for ya."

Byakko then turned to Po and he said, "It's just that...I've never tasted anything like this before in my life."

"Oh trust me, there's plenty of noodles to go around." Po added.

* * *

><p>Count on noodles and the Dragon Warrior to make Byakko feel better. Next chapter will tug your heartstrings.<p> 


	10. Words of Encouragement

My friends King of 2211, Joe 'Po' Navark and Tyson the Wolf Omega wanted me to bring in some words of encouragement for Byakko. Knowing that Byakko's afraid of what other people think of him because he's a tiger that he might assassinate innocent people if he loses control. He takes some advice from someone who's been there before and knows what it's like to be called a monster.

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: Words of Encouragement<p>

Hours later, Byakko was back in the Sacred Peach Tree after hanging out with Po, Crane and Monkey for the first time and he never felt like he was that important to them, but he still has his fears that he'll be rejected by them and wanted to try everything he can to just be perfect, but sometimes the walls are much easier to crack based on everything he had to deal with in the past.

With Benkei dominating his life and others looking at him in fear because he is a white tiger that can't control himself and his powers, it was like he's been through a lot more hell than anything. He lets out a heavy sigh and decided to do something to get it off his chest...by singing.

_I tried to be perfect  
>But nothing was worth it<br>I don't believe it makes me real  
>I thought it'd be easy<br>But no one believes me  
>I meant all the things I said<em>

_If you believe it's in my soul  
>I'd say all the words that I know<br>Just to see if it would show  
>That I'm trying to let you know<br>That I'm better off on my own  
><em>

_This place is so empty  
>My thoughts are so tempting<br>I don't know how it got so bad  
>Sometimes it's so crazy<br>That nothing can save me  
>But it's the only thing that I have<em>

_If you believe it's in my soul  
>I'd say all the words that I know<br>Just to see if it would show  
>That I'm trying to let you know<br>That I'm better off on my own_

_On my own_

_I tried to be perfect_  
><em>It just wasn't worth it<em>  
><em>Nothing could ever be so wrong<em>  
><em>It's hard to believe me<em>  
><em>It never gets easy<em>  
><em>I guess I knew that all along<em>

_If you believe it's in my soul_  
><em>I'd say all the words that I know<em>  
><em>Just to see if it would show<em>  
><em>That I'm trying to let you know<em>  
><em>That I'm better off on my own<em>

He finished off the last verse with a broken voice and he was on the verge of shedding tears and he suddenly sees an orange and black hand on his shoulder and it didn't take long to find out that it was only Tigress. Byakko was surprised to see her standing there, thinking that she might've heard him singing and asked, "How much of that did you kinda hear?"

Tigress didn't take too long to reply and said, "As much as I can tell, all of it. It sounds as if you're afraid of yourself and the world around you."

Byakko felt really sad because he knew she was right...and with good reason; he _**was **_afraid of himself and he just felt like showing it in front of her was a bad idea. He lets out a sigh and said, "I really don't feel like taking about this, okay? I've got other things to deal with."

As Byakko started to walk away, Tigress was quick to stop him with a simple yank on his tail, which made Byakko growl at the slightest form of aggression as possible. He then said to her, "Big mistake!"

Tigress angrily said to him, "Tell me the real reason!"

"BECAUSE I'M A MONSTER, A SAVAGE MONSTER/BEAST THAT DOESN'T DESERVE TO LIVE OR EXIST! OKAY? I had to endure 15 painful years of my life being called that because people see me because of my powers! You just don't know what it feels like to feel hurt, ashamed and guilty; like the world would be a better place without you! You just don't know what it feels like to me! I'm always gonna be nothing...nothing but a monster." Byakko exclaimed, while breaking down in tears.

Tigress suddenly softened her face and felt like she could relate with this kid because he had to endure so much pain from his life that it was never gonna get any better. Then, she notices some claw marks on his hands and arms and that's how she could see that this is what Byakko had to live with.

Byakko then told her, with tears in his eyes, "Do you even know what it feels like to be in a world where no one will accept you?"

Tigress suddenly got down to his level and all she could do is just grab him and hugged him tightly. It was new for Byakko to even experience and he never expected anyone to hug him before...except for Santiago. But seeing as how she deeply cares for him, he felt as if he finally deserved it and just embraced the hug.

They broke off for a second and she responded, "I do. When I was very young, a lot of the kids at the orphanage always called me a monster because of my temper and it would always hurt. I thought no one would come to even care for me until Shifu came into my life. After some training from him, I was able to try my best to compose myself and there's when he took me in the Jade Palace as my home. But I never felt loved him by him and felt like I was back to square one except no one ever saw me as a monster, which made it impossible for me to control my temper. But being in a world where no one will accept you does make you feel like you're all alone and no one will care for you...but you're not alone now."

Hearing this come out of Tigress made Byakko feel really suprised to know that he's not the only one that ever feels that way. Byakko lets out a sorrowful sigh and he said to her, "And I thought what I went through was horrible."

Tigress stoked his forehead and patted him and said, "But you can't make what had happened in your past make you the person you are now. There are people that do care for you, you just have to slow down and take a look first."

Byakko lowered his head down and he said, "All my life...I've been cut off from everyone because they thought I was the cause of my parent's death because of my powers. It's like...they don't understand what I've been through and how hurt I've always felt all these years except for Santiago...but to know that coming from someone else I barely even know...maybe you do understand me."

"Exactly. You just have to find inner peace within yourself and don't worry about what everyone else thinks of you. Just give them a chance...starting with us." Tigress said.

Byakko didn't really know what to respond, but the fact that Tigress does care for Byakko really gave him the opportunity to let his walls come down and let someone else in. He nodded his head and said, "Thank you."

For Byakko, he felt like he can connect with Tigress in an emotional level and that she's someone he can most definitely trust.

* * *

><p>Well, wasn't that encourgaing? Next up, one-on-one with Byakko and Shifu.<p> 


	11. Empowering over Self Doubt

Even though Byakko has gained a little self-confidence from Tigress' words, it's not enough to feel empowered yet. Will Master Shifu's words empower him? Big thanks to Joe 'Po' Navark for this suggestion.

* * *

><p>Chapter 11: Empowering above Self-Doubt<p>

Later that day, Byakko walked to the training hall, just to do some training by himself and taking out some of his pain on the dummy, as he punched, kicked and shoved it as hard as he can. Some of the words Tigress said to him sorta struck a chord on him, but he wasn't quite sure of himself if he's as good enough as he thinks he is because there's one thing stopping him; how to deal with the fact that he has powers.

But that's not a huge worry for him. The only worry is that how will he plan to open up with all of the kung-fu masters in an environment that he's never stepped inside in before. He takes a deep breath and questioned himself if he wants someone to be there for him and kinda break down the wall he's been secluded himself in, but doesn't know how because he's never been loved or cared for before besides Santiago.

It's like he doesn't believe in himself when it comes to someone convincing him that he's not a monster nor a savage beast as any stranger would think throughout most of his life. Although Tigress does understand what he's going through, he felt as if no one else would ever get it because he's not like the rest of them and is afraid that he'll push away and hurt the people he will most likely care about.

Byakko lets out a deep sorrowful sigh as he sat down on the ground with his head buried underneath his legs, in a state of self-doubt and despair.

'Who am I kidding? How will anyone ever understand me and what I've been through?' Byakko thought to himself.

He's been hurt way too many times before in the past and that if he does open up, it'll lead to something that he can't get out of...trusting people. And that his fear is that if that happens, he'll end up hurting others and just live in a state of loneliness for the rest of his life. He doesn't want to do that, but what can he do?

He can still hear the voices of people taunting him growing up during his time with Benkei that would still be embedded in his head.

'What potential do you have? You'll never amount to anything!'

'Everyone knows you're the one that killed your own parents. Why should you even exist?'

'Stay back! There's a rabid white tiger trying to kill all of us!'

'If it isn't the savage beast, lurking amongst us...trying to find another prey to kill!'

'Who will accept a monster like you?'

'That's all you are and all you ever will be...a savage monster!'

'You're a monster and a beast!'

'Your parents would've been better off if you were never born!'

'Nobody in the whole damn universe would care for a monster like you!'

Byakko could still hear them laughing and taunting at him and saying so much derogatory things to him that no matter what he does, he will always be what everyone else sees him...as a monster.

He could recall the times he's been put down, beaten up, spat at, pushed aside, made fun of and humilated throughout his life and all of those memories replayed all of his mind like a slide show. It's like if the world isn't good enough for him, then how is he good enough for it? With every thought in his head, Byakko lets out a ferocious growl and lets out a very loud scream and just slammed the dummy down so hard that it actually flew through the walls, leaving only a hole in the training hall.

Byakko stood there, panting heavily and felt like he was angry at himself for the cause of all this to happen and just blamed himself feeling like he was the one that made this happen throughout his whole life and he just got down on his knees and lowered his head down in ultimate shame.

"No matter what I do, who I hurt...I'll always be a monster." Byakko whispered, tearfully.

"You are not a monster, Byakko."

Byakko's ears perked up out of nowhere and when he turned around, he saw Master Shifu standing there and he turned away from him for he did not want to see him cry. Shifu got closer to him and he asked, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm...I'm cool." Byakko said, trying not to see his hidden sadness.

Shifu didn't buy that for one minute and he could tell from the tone of his voice that it was all an act to hide his personal sadness so he wouldn't be put down like everyone else. And he knew it too because he saw one tear falling out of his face.

"No, you're not. I can tell that you are hiding something." Shifu said.

Byakko wanted to say something to hide it away, but somehow some of Shifu's words broke through his barrier like a million and one bricks crumbling down to the ground and at that point, he knew Shifu was right. The young white tiger let out a heavy, quivering sigh and didn't want to face Shifu because there were tears coming out of his eyes and he said, "It's better if you don't understand."

Shifu could tell that Byakko's been suffering a lot in his life and he went up to him and puts his hand on his shoulder and said, "I do understand...I see a person who's been hurt too many times before and is afraid that he'll get hurt again."

"Or if I hurt anyone." Byakko said, with guilt in his voice.

"Why would you do that?"

Shifu sat down next to Byakko and he was eager to listen to what the young white tiger had to say. With that moment, Byakko let out a deep sigh and he said to Shifu, "All my life...I've been closed off from the world because where I'm from, everyone sees me as a monster, a savage beast who's opportunity is to just kill and hurt the people I care about. I'm not gonna be as good enough as everyone is and from here...it's like what if it happens here? I've never felt loved, appreciated or even cared for because no one does, so what's the point in caring about them? All of these people in this valley, it's so different from what I'm used to. They're just happy, kind and so friendly and I'm...I'm something else. I just don't want to hurt them, to feel what I do. And if I do, I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for that reason because they'll never forgive me. No matter what I do or where I go, I'll always be a monster. I'm just scared to like even talk to anyone and let them in my life because friendships would ultimately fail."

Shifu completely reached out to Byakko and said, "That doesn't mean that you can't stop trying. I know this much; you are not a monster nor you're a savage beast. There are plenty of people here that really cares about you, but you have to let them."

"Yeah, but I can't make them." Byakko added.

"You don't have to make them care about you. They have to do it themselves. I understand that you have been through a lot in your life, but you cannot let those things make you who you are now." Shifu said.

"But I don't know anymore."

(A/N: This is the quote that Joe 'Po' Navark suggested under this author's note)

Shifu patted his shoulder and then told him, "A lot of kung-fu warriors used to feel the same way too. I know many masters of kung-fu who have chosen a life of solitude. They are quite happy with their lives, but they chose to seclude themselves. They didn't let their minds of other people aid in their decision, just as you shouldn't."

Those kinds of words sorta woke Byakko up a little bit and it felt as if someone had to come and drag him out of the dark hole of loneliness that he set himself in. Shifu then went on to say, "You have loads of potential in you. Just don't think of what's up there..."

Shifu then pointed at his head and then pointed at his chest to get the sense of what's inside of himself...something he's never had to experience before.

"...but what you feel in here."

Byakko looked at his chest and just puts his paw in it and then asked, "What does it mean?"

"Choose heart over mind. Think about what's in your heart instead of what's in your head because that's where second thoughts are in where you're not so sure of yourself, but if you follow your heart, you can be just as sure that it'll take you to find peace within yourself. Don't worry about what other people think of you, just worry about yourself. Just be who you are and don't be ashamed of yourself. Your powers are unique and we can all help you control them." Shifu added.

The fact that Shifu said these kind of words really made him feel like he's been empowered already by someone he barely even knows. He then turned to Shifu and he lets out a small smile and said, "I guess I've been so used to secluding myself for so long that I never even knew that someone that I never met in my life would care that much for me."

"I'm not just a master in kung-fu, but also someone who can empower them that no matter what your personal issues are, you can face those challenges instead of running away from them." Shifu added.

He nodded his head in understanding and he said, "Thanks, Shifu."

Shifu lets out a small chuckle and said, "Anytime. And if you feel the need to talk to someone, come to me, Tigress, Po, Crane, Viper, Monkey, Mantis and also Musaki. We'll all be here for you."

Suddenly, Byakko had Musaki on his mind...since he rescued him and Santiago days ago, he might be the reason why he saved him from Benkei and decided that he owes him a token of appreciation for what he did.

"Musaki..." Byakko whispered.

* * *

><p>So...why does he have Musaki on his mind? Find out next chapter!<p> 


	12. A Brotherhood Bond

I bet you guys were wondering why Byakko had Musaki on his mind? Well, question answered!

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: A Brotherhood Bond<p>

Back at the barracks, Byakko was walking around the hallways to find Musaki's room and while he was walking, he sees Santiago coming in front of him and he tells him, "How's it going?"

Santiago took a deep breath and he replied, "Okay, I guess. You know, they treat me pretty good here. It's a lot better than what we're used to with Benkei. Got some training down with Po and Arizona and they just...I never knew people like that exist."

Byakko blinked his eyes and figured that Santiago is starting to get used to it here and and he replied, "I always thought Benkei told me that those caring people never exist anymore and that they don't care about people like us because we're like monsters."

Santiago lets out a heavy sigh as his ears perked down over the memory of dealing with Benkei and for being constantly provoked by people for so many years before and then he looked up at Byakko and said, "We've been through a lot together."

Byakko then asked him, "When we first met, I always thought that you'd do what the other people did to me...just call me a monster, beat the crap out of me and just run away but you never did. Why weren't you scared of me then?"

Santiago stared at Byakko and he knew that answer very easily because it's been a long time since they've been friends for a long time. He then responded, "I've been where you were before. I was also blamed for killing my family because of the fact that I'm a wolf and also my fire powers may be the cause. As I said before, I hate it when people try to criticize each other when they don't even know them. It's sickening, you know? Plus, I've always heard that tigers would never be friends with wolves, but ever since I was alone, I've always seen you getting judged, hated and threatened so many times before and I just felt really sorry for you because I can see that you've been suffering a lot. When that day came that they treated you like crap, shoved you down, I couldn't hold it in. I was sick of watching others take advantage of your hurt that I had to do something. So, I was never afraid of you as I thought you might be afraid of me."

Byakko hung his head down guilty-like to know that Santiago thought that Byakko would be menacing to him before they even met. The young white tiger lets out a soft sigh and told him, "I don't want anyone to be afraid of me. I would never cause anyone any harm...not even you."

"That's why we became friends...because we all feel like we're alone in the world and that we can stick together through anything. We've gotten threatened, beaten by Byakko, being called monsters or savage beasts, but it never put a dent in our friendship." Santiago added.

"I guess we'll have to get used to this new life, huh? I'm just afraid that...some of the villagers here might do the same thing to us." Byakko explained.

"So am I." Santiago added.

Just then, out of nowhere, Musaki comes walking through and he sees Santiago and Byakko talking to each other and he said, "Hey, what's up?"

They both turn to Musaki and they said 'hi' to each other and Byakko said, "I'm kinda glad you came here."

Musaki looked surprised to hear that coming from him and he asked, "You are?"

All three of them entered Musaki's room and as they all sat down on the ground, Musaki wanted to know what was going on and what was up with Byakko. The white tiger cub took a deep sigh and said, "Why did you rescue us when you did?"

Musaki could tell that Byakko was still curious to know why he had to do what he did in the first place and he replied, "I just felt like I was doing the right thing. No one else made me do it nor did anyone force me to do it. When I saw you getting knocked out by that Benkei dude...I just wanted to save you from that guy and bring you to a safe place."

"No one has ever been able to do something like that for us. Mostly people would just walk by and never even care about us because of the way we are." Santiago added.

Musaki blinked his eyes twice and he asked, "Are you guys used to it here?"

"Sorta." Santiago shrugged.

"I'm...trying to adjust here, but I'm having trouble with it." Byakko added.

Musaki looked in Byakko's eyes and he can tell that there was something bothering him deeply and he asked, "What is it?"

"Being accepted for just me." Byakoo replied, with a sad tone to his voice.

Musaki could see the sadness in his eyes, so he patted his shoulder and he said, "You will be happy here. You just have to find the strength and the courage to accept it. Once people like you for who you are, nothing else matters. As long as you're surrounded by the people care about you, you two will turn out fine."

Suddenly, all of those words that were instilled by Musaki, Shifu and Tigress finally made sense. It garnered enough self-confidence and the strength to be happy here and when he smiled, Santiago could tell that he's growing to like this place.

Byakko then tells Musaki, "I just want to like...thank you."

Musaki was surprised to hear this coming out of Byakko after knowing them for a few days and he asked, "What for?"

"Coming into our lives and caring about us. And to get us away from Benkei, even though we never knew how we got there." Byakko added.

Musaki chuckled softly and then felt like his heart was being warmed up like Byakko's has already started to and said, "Anytime. Take it from your panda bro."

That struck a chord with Byakko and Santiago the most to hear that Musaki referred to them as brothers and he asked, "You consider us brothers?"

Musaki lets out a smile and said, "Sure. What else could I consider you? I'll protect you guys from anything."

It meant a lot to these two to know that Musaki would be this willing to accept both of them as brothers...real brothers for the first time and it was something they never expected, but really glad that it happened anyway.

Just then, two of them stood up and decided to bow to Musaki with much appreciation and to their surprise, he bowed back. All three of them were laughing as they got out of the room and for the first time, things were starting to go right.

* * *

><p>Sounds like they're getting used to it. There's a lot more coming your way, so stick around.<p> 


	13. Meeting Ichi

I thought it'd be only fair to have an appearance by Ichi in this story. This is for Wonder Panda Tan-Tan.

* * *

><p>Chapter 13: Meeting Ichi<p>

As the days passed by, Byakko has been training as heavily as ever, just growing stronger each minute and with Santiago by his side, they've never felt much more invincible before and their persistence shows whenever they were sparring with some of the kung-fu masters. They're starting to get used to adapting a peaceful life in the Valley of Peace and has felt like they're a part of their family.

With Musaki training them, he gives them guidance, compassion and also determination...something that they never had growing up. Both of them are starting to learn how to control their powers and plans to make sure they're used for battle and not for when they lose it when they get super-angry for whatever personal reason.

And also, both Santiago and Byakko did some training sessions with most of the Five, one-on-one and also with Musaki and Arizona by their sides. With their assistance, they felt as if they can be who they'll most likely become...a warrior.

Any fears of being called a monster or savage beasts completely vanished when they're in the training hall and it looks as though some of thr masters were true to their word.

One afternoon comes around and Byakko walks around the palace and he sees Shifu walking past him and he's always seen Byakko with some ragged clothes since he set foot in the palace for the first time and he immediately stopped him for a second. When Byakko turns to Shifu, he walks over to him and asked, "Master?"

Shifu cleared his throat and he said, "In all the days you've been here, it seems as though you wear the same clothes every day."

Byakko noticed that he was wearing the same worn-out vest and patched up silk pants through most of his life and he then replied, "It's been that way since I was taken in by Benkei after my parents were killed. I had no ounce of clean clothes and me and Santiago had to live with wearing worn-out clothes and rags."

Just then, Santiago walks out of the Sacred Hall of Warriors and sees Byakko talking with Shifu and without warning, Shifu also notices that the white wolf is also wearing a torn vest and ragged khaki shorts like it's been worn so many times before. He then went in front of him and asked, "How's it going?"

Shifu lets out a big exhale and he asked, "Have you boys considered wearing new clothes?"

Both boys looked at themselves and they could see that they always wear the same raggedy clothes all the time and both of them replied, "Never."

"Well...luckily we have some new ones around here in the Valley." Shifu added.

"Where do we find them?" asked Byakko.

Just then, Musaki and Viper sorta overheard everything that was going on and Viper immediately slithered up to both of them and said, "We couldn't help overhearing, but did I hear you guys say that you've never had new clothes before?"

"Nah, never. This is what we wear every year." Santiago explained.

Musaki could tell that the way that they were brought up on while Benkei 'raised' them, something inside of him could hear them scream new clothes and he asked, "Isn't time you guys need some?"

"Luckily, I know this one place in the Valley where they have every ounce of clothes that fits you. You two can't wear the same things everyday." Viper added.

Both boys were a little skeptical about the change, but they were a little tired of wearing the same things everyday and Santiago said, "It's worth a shot."

Minutes later, all four of them headed down the valley looking for a clothing store and when they got to one of those stores, Byakko and Santiago's jaws dropped to the floor as mounds and mounds and mounds of clothes were all over the place and they never saw anything like it before.

Viper went in front of them and said, "From shirts, vests, pants, jeans...just everything you see here are all waiting to be fitting in."

"Viper's a fashion hound." Musaki added.

Viper lets out a sarcastic scoff at Musaki and said, "You might need some new clothes too, Musaki."

Musaki rolled his eyes like it might be something a mother could say, but she did have a good point...Musaki needed some new clothes. As Viper showed the boys around, Musaki decided to just have a little look-see to see which shorts are better fitting for him. When he found one pair with a dark brown look, he imagined what it would look like if he was wearing it. Without question, he went into one of the dressing rooms and tried them on. After he came out of the dressing room with the new pair of shorts on, there was a little mirror outside of it and he took a good look at himself for a while.

Musaki chuckled a little bit and said, "Saki...you look like you're ready for action."

"I'll say."

Musaki yelps a little and then turns around and is delighted to see that it was only his best friend, Ichi. He chuckled softly and asked, "What up, dude?"

Both of them did their usual handshake and just laughed with each other as they hugged each other. He looked at Ichi and asked, "How ya been, Ich?"

Ichi lets out a laugh and replied, "Pretty good. You?"

"Just looking for some new clothes." Musaki replied.

Ichi looked at the new dark brown shorts and asked, "Looks like you're wearing one of those new clothes."

Musaki lets out a sarcastic laugh and he said, "You got jokes."

Ichi rolled his eyes and said, "I came to get some new clothes too. Knowing my sister, she talked me into one of those clothes-shopping days. Have to admit, I kinda felt like maybe I should get some new ones."

Musaki chuckled and said, "Well, I bet anything new won't be as better than mine."

Ichi raised his eyebrow at that comment and he asked, "Is that what ya think?"

"Maybe."

Meanwhile, Byakko and Santiago went behind Viper to see what kind of clothes they would wear and suddenly, Viper comes across one certain blue vest with a chinese symbol of 'loyalty' in front of it and a yin-yang symbol on the back of it and figured it might be a great fit for Byakko and when she gave it to him, he wasn't sure what he would look like wearing it. And also, she seeks a pair of grey pants in front of the shirts that fits his size and when she picked it up, she asked, "What do you think of these outfits?"

Byakko looks over at those and he's never seen anything like it before nor has he ever worn anything like it before and he asked, "Will these fit?"

"Only one way to find out." Viper said.

Viper then took them to some of the dressing rooms and it was there that they saw mounds of cloths thrown on the ground and suddenly, Musaki came out with some red and blue striped shorts with a picture of the night sky and then Ichi comes out with a blue t-shirt with dark blue jeans and both of them wanted to show them off and Musaki said, "I think you should get some fashion tips from someone with style and more class."

Ichi scoffed and said, "What, these aren't class?"

"These look like you're wearing all blue." Musaki added.

"Boys..."

Suddenly, Ichi and Musaki turn around and they saw Viper coming in and both of them said, "Hey, what's up, Viper?"

Viper rolled her eyes at both of them as she sees some clothes laying on the ground and she said, "What's with the clothes on the floor?"

Both of them looked at each other as if they felt they were busted for throwing some clothes in the store and they replied, in an innocent tone, "No reason..."

The glare couldn't escape both of them and Musaki ultimately caved and replied, "Me and Ichi were having a who's better-looking competition the same way Po did when he first lived with you guys."

They immediately picked some of the clothes up out of the floor and set them down in the dressing room and then faced Viper again and she lets out a small laugh and said, "I think you boys need to settle down with this who looks better act."

"Sorry." they said, in unison.

Just then, Ichi notices Byakko and Santiago standing in front of her and he went up to them and said, "Hey, how's it going? I'm Kageichi. You can call me Ichi for short."

Byakko looked a little shy around Ichi, making his fear come back to him but when he looked at Musaki, he made a look knowing that everything's okay which also convinced Byakko to just come out and shake his hand.

"Hey, I'm Byakko."

It was the first time that Ichi had ever seen a white tiger before and then when he saw Santiago, he quickly came to him and introduced himself and Santiago did the same as well. All fear of being turned down faded away very quickly when both of them shook Ichi's hand.

Just then, Byakko went inside the dressing room and tried the new outfits on and after a couple of minutes, he walked out of the room with those outfits and Viper widened her eyes with bated breath and excitement at the same time and she said, "Wow. You look so different."

"I do?" asked Byakko.

Then, Byakko looked up and there was a mirror in front of the door and sees himself for the first time without any rags in him at all. He chuckled softly and sees himself a different person and he said, "Wow...so this is what it looks like when you're wearing something new."

Musaki chuckled softly and he said, "Byakko, you look awesome."

As the day goes on, Viper then looks around for an outfit for Santiago and when she looked for different kinds of shorts for him, she came across a pair of brown shorts with some pockets on the sides and the outfit suddenly intrigued the young white wolf and as he went in and tried it on, Santiago suddenly looked like a different person and Musaki, Viper and Byakko were completely in awe with it.

Santiago looked a little nervous about what their reactions would be and he asked, "What do you guys think?"

Viper chuckled softly and said, "They fit you fine."

"Yeah, I'll say." Musaki said.

All of a sudden, out comes Ichi in another dressing room with a dark green vest and some silk pants to go with it and then, Musaki takes a look at him and he said, "I think some girls will totally date you with that outfit."

That comment made Ichi chuckle nervously and Viper looked at Ichi for a minute and she said, "Yeah, you look so adorable."

"Thanks, Viper." Ichi said.

Couple of minutes later, they went in and paid for some of the clothes and all five of them went out of the clothing store and Musaki asked Ichi, "Wanna hang out in the Jade Palace with us?"

Ichi replied, "Sure, I got nothing else better to do."

Soon after, they all went back to the Jade Palace and for Byakko and Santiago, it was like their first taste of having fun for the first time. But Musaki knows that this is only the beginning.

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><p>Again, funny moments. Well, stick around for more!<p> 


	14. Understand What It's Like

A very heart-to-heart talk going on here about what it's like to be unaccepted because you're not normal. Byakko takes advice from someone who's been through a lot.

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><p>Chapter 14: Understanding What It's Like<p>

A couple of minutes later, Viper, Musaki, Santiago and Byakko went back to the Jade Palace along with Ichi and as they were heading upstairs, Ichi went up to Musaki and he wanted to know how both Santiago and Byakko got in the palace in the first place and he asked, "So what's with these two?"

Musaki turned to Ichi for a second after asking that question and he replied, "I rescued them."

That surprised Ichi the most after Musaki admitted that he rescued both of them and he asked, "From what?"

Musaki knew that he would eventually get some secrets out of him for taking Byakko and Santiago in and he said, "Dude, it's a long story."

"I got time to kill." Ichi added.

Then, as they got inside the barracks, Viper went into her room, leaving Musaki and the rest heading to his room and as they went inside, they all sat down on the ground in a circle and he looked at Ichi straight in the eye and he asked, "You really wanna know?"

"Yeah, I do." Ichi replied.

Musaki knew that Ichi must brace himself because what he might say, the story might add something that is similar to Ichi and he wasn't sure how he would react, but it could be relatable to him. So he took a deep breath and said, "A few days ago, I was walking my way to the Wu Dan Mountains to do some independent training and to look at the mountains for a sec and I saw a tree burning in flames, thinking something might've happened there because I know that lightning did not strike on it. And as I was investigating, I saw some deranged tiger coming harming these two for no reason and when he knocked them out and planned to kill them, I knew I had to step in and bring them to safety. It was very risky, but you know...I'm a very selfless person. So we got into a little spar and battle and this guy completely knocked me out like hard. I didn't know if he was gonna kill me, but I had a gut feeling that he might finish me off...until a bright light sorta woke me up and I saw that this little guy used a huge power to knock him out cold. I can see it that he's not an ordinary tiger and how he could use something so powerful to save my life. Anyways, after he was unconscious again, I took both of them out of where he was and brought them here to make sure that same villain would never harm these guys again."

Ichi looked at Musaki wide-eyed to see this coming and he never really thought that Musaki would be willing to die for these two. He said to him in a surprised tone, "He would've killed you."

"Hey, you and me...we've been through some pretty life-risking adventures together before and I've taken those myself that would've been the end of me. Either way, if I was to die for the people I'd care about and will care about, I'd consider myself a very heroic but always humble warrior." Musaki replied.

Ichi nodded his head a little and Musaki continued on with the story, "After I brought them in, I wasn't quite sure how I will ever explain this to Po, Shifu and the Five but luckily for me, they were running errands or doing some extra training at the time so it was very easy for me to sorta carry them in without them knowing. Unfortunately for me, Tigress...being the swifty vigilante she is...actually saw Byakko after he pounced her and I was worried that a fight would ensue and when I saw that he carried a sword and planned to use his darkness powers on her, that's when I knew...that he was more than just a tiger."

Ichi took a glance at Byakko for a second and then he asked, "Darkness power?"

Byakko lets out a heavy exhale and told him, "I have Godai genes...elemental powers based on my emotions. When I get angry, I use darkness powers and when I'm excited or really happy, I have electric powers, when I get sick or tired or just really down, I have poison powers and when I'm concentrating or focused, I have fire powers. Most of those are pyrokinese, toxikinese, electrokinese and lunarkinese...but I'm also a daikojin."

Ichi suddenly realized something...and then he found out very quickly that all of those things pertain to one thing...he's a half-demon too.

"You're a half-demon, aren't you?"

Byakko soon became a little bit surprised and shocked to hear that come out of Ichi and he felt like he was gonna be judged or rejected all over again. He lets out a heavy sigh and asked, "I guess you'll run away from me and call me a monster like everyone else, huh?"

One look into Byakko's eyes and Ichi knew...he reminded him of himself after he killed his parents a long time ago and how he's had to live with that for the rest of his life and other people totally called him a monster growing up and then he responded, "Never. I'm a half-demon too. I used to think that no one would accept me for me nor would they be my friend with the past that I had. I had to deal with a lot when I was young and coped with so much loneliness for nearly 14 years that life never matters that much to me anymore and you almost feel like you want to end you life because of things like that...until I found myself surrounded by people who actually do care a lot about me and just accepted me with open arms that keeps on being there for me. Old friends, new friends, family...it's like nothing I ever felt before and even though I have a dark side of myself, it never mattered to me as long as I'm with people I love the most."

Musaki smiled at Ichi for that statement and he then told Byakko and Santiago, "We've been great friends for two years, now going on three. I never thought that he was a half-demon until he told me that a few weeks after we met and it brought me to a point that even though there's a demon side of him, all I could see is that someone that needs a good friend...or best friend to stand by his side whenever life gets tough. And we've been best buds ever since."

Byakko then looked at Musaki and also Ichi and said, "But still, would you still be friends with a killer?"

"Even if I lose control and kill Musaki...which would probably be hopefully never...he would still be friends with me." Ichi said.

Musaki nodded his head in agreement with that and he said, "Shifu, Po and most of the Five helped him control his powers...well mostly Po and Shifu...and they can do the same as well."

Ichi smiled at that and said, "I owe these guys my life. If there was any other word to say other than thank you, I would definitely use those words."

Musaki then turned to Ichi and asked, "How about domo arigato?"

Ichi looked at Musaki for a sec and realized that he spoke fluent japanese and he lets out an excited chuckle and said, "Since when do you speak japanese?"

"I understand some parts of japanese after I found out that I was half japanese when I saw my relatives for the first time over nearly a year ago." Musaki replied.

Byakko had no idea that Musaki was half japanese as well and he said, "My dad was japanese as well, so..."

Santiago went in to say, "I'm pyrokinese as well."

"Oh, really?" Ichi asked, surprisedly.

Santiago lets out a deep sigh and said, "Yeah, sometimes I don't know how to control it and just like Byakko, no matter how many times I try, I just can't tame myself for some reason."

"Well, how'd you guys meet?" asked Ichi.

Just then, Santiago explained everything to Ichi about how they met for the first time when they were only cubs and it left Ichi really blown away by it and also surprised as well.

"Wow. I had no idea. Your guys' stories sound very similar as mine." Ichi said.

Byakko stared at Ichi and said, "Even though I'm slowly getting used to living a new life here, there's still that fear of rejection that one day some people would see me and think of me as a monster...like I'm not good enough to be their friends."

Ichi hung his ears down for that one and he knows that it feels like so it was easier for him to sympathize with Byakko and he said, "I understand where you're coming from. I used to think those thoughts many times when I was younger, but thanks to Po and Shifu, all of those worries seem to fade away and they were replaced with courage, friendship and also love. Regardless of what I am, there are people out there that really do care about you. You just have to slow down and just take a look for yourself."

Byakko could totally learn a few things from Ichi because he's been through that experience before and it was a lot easier to learn from someone who's been through it a lot and that he can call a second shadow of himself. He looked at Ichi and he said, "You're right. I can see why you and Musaki are good friends."

Musaki chuckled softly and Ichi lets out a smile and he went on to say, "We're friends for life."

"Always." Musaki added.

Minutes later, some of the kung-fu masters were seated for dinner and all of a sudden, Musaki, Ichi, Byakko and Santiago came in the kitchen wearing their new outfits, which caused a lot of attention for all of them and Viper looked amazed to see them in the new clothes they got and she said, "You guys look so cute!"

Musaki chuckled softly at that comment and he said, "Thanks, Vi."

Shifu was also amazed to see Byakko and Santiago wearing clean clothes instead of rags and he said, "I've gotta admit...those are very sharp clothes."

"Yep, and it's all thanks to Viper." Santiago added.

Viper took a bow of honor and lets out a slight giggle and said, "You're very welcome."

Mantis lets out a certain scoff at that and he said, "You guys should've gotten some fashion tips from me."

"What fashion tips? You don't wear anything." Viper added.

"Well, neither do you!"

Byakko looks up to see Viper and Mantis arguing a little and he asked Musaki, "Are they always like that?"

"Nah, usually they can't stand each other." Musaki replied.

Then, Musaki looks up at Shifu and he said, "Is it cool that Ichi sticks around for dinner?"

Just then, all eyes were on Ichi and they didn't realize that Ichi was there and Shifu looked up and he was overjoyed to see him and said, "Welcome back, Ichi."

Ichi smiled for a second and said, "Hey, Shifu."

Po immediately jumped out of his seat, grabbed Ichi and pulled him into a tight bear hug and said, "How's my little brother doing?"

"Great...only...could ya...let go...of me?" Ichi asked, choking.

Po immediately let him go and he chuckled embarassedly and said, "Sorry, buddy. It's just that I'm so happy to see you."

"Nice to see you too." Ichi added, with a chuckle.

All of them sat down and as Po passed out the bowls of noodles, Byakko noticed that everyone around the table loved Po's noodles and when he took a taste, it was like lightning struck twice again and he said, "Best thing I ever put in my mouth."

Santiago could see that Byakko's enjoying it and thought that maybe he can taste it too and when he did, his taste buds were like gasping for joy and he said, "So freakin' delicious!"

Monkey could see that Santiago's enthusiasm of Po's noodles were bursting out in joy and he said, "I could tell you like those."

"I've never tried anything like this before. It sure beats eating out of day-old antelope meat and overcooked rice." Santiago added.

Musaki groans in dusgust over this thought and he said, "Dude, not while we're eating!"

Soon enough, everyone was enjoying themselves for dinner and Byakko and Santiago totally felt like they found their place in the world that they might be able to actually be a part of it.

* * *

><p>Wasn't that awesome? Byakko and Santiago are starting to become part of the family. Stick around for more!<p> 


	15. Benkei's Plot

I know you might ask where's Benkei? Well, this chapter answers your question as he comes up with this sinister plot.

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><p>Chapter 15: Benkei's Plot<p>

Deep in the further parts of the forest, Benkei was still pissed for two reasons; having both Byakko and Santiago leave them out of their sight and knowing that others might care for Byakko because he's a daikojin. As he was pacing around the forest, he started contemplating on how he can plan to attack them head-on.

"How do I end their lives? That tiger beast will pay for knocking me out and for running out of my sight." Benkei growled, angrily.

He couldn't shake off the memories playing in his head about how Byakko's father could be a daikojin and that his son might be the one that can hold unimaginable strength and that he's one of the 3 members of the Byakko clan to use one technique to use in the purity in the heart of the user to cast one purification barrier to wipe him out.

The more he thought about it, the more twisted and furiosu he got that Byakko might defend and protect his friends from those with a heart of stone and that he'll expose his daikojin. He knew that it would be certain to stop him at any cost.

He cursed under his breath and lets out a loud roar that echoed throughout parts of the Valley and it was then he knew that there was a dark secret brewing in his head that kept Byakko from knowing it for so long.

"I was glad that I killed Byakko's parents. Now that his father is out of the picture, he will have the same fate he'll get. But how?"

Byakko completely wanted to kill Byakko and Santiago, but his most frequent target is Byakko, because he knows that his father is a daikojin and they were rivals in their younger years and knew that revenge was served after Byakko's father used his daikojin powers to wipe out his entire army and for that, he wanted Byakko's father to suffer the consequences for it.

How to kill his offspring is the biggest task he had to face for he knew that Byakko's life would be slayed.

With one thing standing his way...the kung-fu warriors. He knew that if they would plan to stop him from killing Byakko that he would be wiped out too.

Then, he lets out a simple sinister smirk on his face and went inside his cave and sees his long, stealth samurai sword. As he held onto it, he could see that there was a little bit of dried blood on the tip of the blade and he knew that one really well...it was the one that he slayed Byakko's parents with and he lets out an evil chuckle and said, "Yes...my old friend. This will be perfect."

He walks out of the cave and looks up at the night sky with an evil smile and said, "I'm coming for you, Byakko and I will put an end to your life...and if anyone gets in my way, they'll suffer the same fate...just as your parents did."

Benkei then looks on the edge of the Valley of Peace and sees a little bit of the Jade Palace and he then said, "Prepare to meet your worst nightmare and when you least expect it...I will be ready to take you down."

Benkei then lets out an evil sinister laugh and it intensifies as it continues to echo throughout the forest, looking forward to putting his evil, menacing plot to use to slay Byakko.

With that, Benkei made his way to the Valley of Peace to go forward with his plan and that his duty will eventually be done.

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><p>Okay, if you or some of your OC characters witness this, what would you have done? And we're gonna be close to the final fight scene later on. Please be patient! It will come.<p> 


	16. Keeping in Control

Let's see how Santiago and Byakko's control are doing. Plus, you will see something in Byakko that's unexpected. Tyson the Wolf Omega, hope you like what I did here.

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><p>Chapter 16: Keeping in Control<p>

On the next day, both Byakko and Santiago did some serious training skills at the training hall and Santiago began using most of the training equipments to put them in good use as he trained as hard as he could. The young white wolf made many twists, turns, kicks and punches on every object that he can use to make himself grow even more stronger.

Byakko did some one-on-one training with Master Shifu to help him keep his powers in control and make sure he'll do whatever he can to make sure that he won't lose any control of himself anymore. The young white tiger took a deep breath and as he paid close attention on the grandmaster, Shifu takes his hands out and tells them to punch them.

Byakko wasn't quite sure about this, but Shifu completely persuades him to do it anyway so that he'll keep himself in check. He then punches his hands as much as he could and Shifu definitely felt no ounce of pain whatsoever and he looks at him and said, "Great work, Byakko."

"Thanks." Byakko added.

Then, he followed him to the training equipments and said, "Now then...you must cross through the gauntlet without a single scratch."

Byakko got himself ready for this and as he got down there, the gauntlets kept swinging and he dodged them like it was nobody's business as well as kicking and punching them. Suddenly, he did a backflip as he got to the top of the gauntlets and swung himself up in the air and held on to one of the swinging clubs and then punches one into a million tiny pieces and lands back to where Shifu is.

Shifu looked at Byakko with shock and amazement in his face and told him, "You have done well, Byakko."

Byakko bowed to him and he said, "I guess I've surprised you, huh?"

"I'll say. Throughout the course of time, you've been able to train yourself to the utmost degree, more so than any of my students. A couple of more methods and you'll be able to control those powers of yours...both in and out of the training hall." Shifu said.

That part intrigued him the most and he asked, "What do you mean by that, in and out of the training hall?"

Suddenly, Ichi comes in from behind Shifu and he said, "It basically means while you are good at your fighting skills, you have to be careful about when you use them. There might be several times when people start to agitate you the most and come up with ways to make you lose your cool and just get violent with them. You do not want to get yourself in trouble for that, so you have to limit your skills and try not to let your powers underestimate you."

Byakko was wide-eyed to hear this coming from Ichi and Shifu then said, "Take some lessons from Ichi. He knows where or when your powers might be used. Don't use them unless you really have to otherwise you'll try to end up like he was."

Ichi shook his head in a sarcastic manner based on that comment and he said, "I've learned from my mistakes."

"And that goes for you too, Santiago." Shifu added.

Santiago's ears perked up when he heard what Shifu said and said, "But I never used them since I've been here."

"Yes, but just in case you get really heated and violent." Shifu added.

Suddenly, Santiago quickly understood what he was talking about because most of his pyrokinese has gotten him in a little bit of trouble and said, "Yes, master."

Hours have passed by after training and Byakko made his way into the barracks, looking really tired like he'd been training all day even though it's afternoon. He lets out a sharp groan as he made his way into his room and laid down on his bed and suddenly a little bit of poison comes into him and his entire body was surrounded in poison and he could tell that he's gotten a huge amount of exhaustion.

All of a sudden, Arizona comes in the room and he sees Byakko getting tired and when he came in to see how he's doing, he got struck by some poison on his finger and he wasn't quite sure what was up with Byakko.

Then, as Byakko gets up, he sees Arizona trying to de-poison his hand and most of his poison powers slowly faded away and he gets up and said, "Hey, sorry about that."

Arizona then feels his poisoned finger fading fast and when he wiggled it, he no longer felt posion anywhere and he slowly looked up at him and he said, "What was that power anyway?"

"I've got all four elemental abilities inside myself based on emotions along with being a daikojin. One of those is Toxikinese; it's a certain poison power when I feel like down, tired or even sick." Byakko answered.

Arizona lets out a slight chuckle at that and he said, "How about that? I saw your lying there and I wasn't sure if you're asleep or what."

Byakko lets out a deep sigh and he said, "Yeah, that's what happens when you have Godai genes like I have."

Arizona felt like he wanted to know more about Byakko and how his life became the way it is and he asked, "What's it like being a daikojin?"

Byakko turned to Arizona and felt like that question was just too personal for him to answer, but as long as he stuck around instead of running away, he was willing to listen. He then said, "I don't really know. I never really knew how I got it when I was young, but I guess my dad was one too. Benkei told me that my father was born a monster because of those powers, but as what the soothsayer told me, I could see that he really wasn't a monster. He was one of those 3 powerful beings with unimaginable strength and the reason why they feared him is because his powers were compared to a god's strength and he was one of 3 beings to control that power. All along, I always thought something was wrong with me and why people were so afraid of me. I could never intentionally hurt anyone, you know? Sure I have some powers I try to control, but at the end of the day, I'm just me."

Hearing what Byakko said made Arizona felt like despite being a born daiokijin, he's just a normal person who always feared that he could be rejected by the people he would hope to be willing to protect and defend them at any cost. He puts his paw on his shoulder and he said, "We're all different, but who isn't? Your powers make you unique and you've got a good heart. Don't let anyone tell you any different because you are who you are and you should just be proud of it, not run away from yourself."

Byakko started to smile for a minute and felt like as long as he stays true to himself, he'll be able to become something he's never become before...a protector.

"Thanks, Arizona." Byakko said.

"Anytime."

Arizona lends out his fist and Byakko wasn't sure what it would be and Arizona tells him, "It's a fist bump. Let me show ya...just to clairfy that we're cool."

Arizona grabs Byakko's hand and balled it to a fist and taught him how to do it by putting his fist on top and bottom of theirs and just twisted it and released it. Byakko chuckled softly and was able to try it out and both of them were laughing.

"Wanna get back to training?" asked Arizona.

Byakko chuckled softly and said, "Why not?"

* * *

><p>Unexpected, huh? There's more on the way!<p> 


	17. Byakko's Nightmare

This is a little on the horror side...at least in a nightmare scene. Tell me if I'm awesome at creating a horror moment.

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><p>Chapter 17: Byakko's Nightmare<p>

Later that night, everything seemed silent in the barracks as everyone is asleep...well except for Byakko, as he started tossing and turning and just groaning in his sleep like a nightmare was about to strike at any moment.

"What do you want? Leave me alone..." Byakko mumbled.

Byakko tried to sleep, but his thoughts on Benkei started to get closer and closer into his mind as if he's picturing what's gonna happen next.

* * *

><p><em>Nightmare<em>

_It was pouring rain in one of the forests and Byakko started running frantically as far away from Benkei as possible, trying to find Santiago and desperately trying to find a safe place to hide. As the thunder rumbles and lightning struck, Byakko heard a very loud roar come from behind him and he could sense that Benkei is gaining on him._

_Benkei ran after him with a sword on his hand, like he was ready to kill him and angrily shouted, "You can't run away from me that easily!"_

_Byakko didn't even want to stop and he cared less about the heavy rains that kept pounding on him. All he wanted to do is just run away from Benkei as much as possible and the faster he ran, he lost him anywhere. _

_He then stopped and fell down to his knees after all that running and let the rain soak all over him. Byakko lets out a sharp and shaken exhale as he felt a certain chill go down his spine and the one place that he never expected to stop was what used to be his parent's house, all demolished and caved-in. _

_He slowly walks over and every step he made, his memories revert back to the night that the house was burnt down to ashes and it was a moment that he wished that he'd forget. And when he stepped in the inside, everything was burnt and destroyed...all in flames. But what came next was shocking enough..._

_He looks up in horror and sees all of the remains of his parents' bodies all cut up and mutilated...scattered all over the house. _

_"No..." Byakko whispered in horror._

_Byakko covered his mouth in deep shock and disbelief to see that this was really happening. He closed his eyes shut on the verge of breaking down in tears and backed away from the sight of scattered body parts all over thinking that he might've caused this to happen. He runs out of the house and tries to flee back to the Jade Palace, but suddenly...a single sword stuck towards a tree and when Byakko looked up, he could tell that Benkei's presence is pretty much near._

_But that wasn't the worst of it._

_When he turned around, he could see the sheer horror coming from behind...all of the kung-fu masters; murdered, mutilated and body parts scattered everywhere. Byakko could see some blood splatter all around the trees as he slowly walked past them in shock, horror and utter disbelief that it happened._

_But when he saw Santiago laying there with a knife on his back, his fear intensified to the next degree. Byakko lets out some choked sobs sensing that it might be the assumption that he couldn't save them in time._

_Then, a certain shadow comes from behind him and when he turns around, he sees Benkei coming in with a sword filled with blood and Byakko looked in sheer horror to see who Benkei will strike next._

_"You're next!" Benkei shouted._

_Benkei walked over to him and Byakko tried to get away yet again, but he was stopped at the end of a cliff and he could tell that this was a 75-foot drop. And to make matters worse, Benkei was right behind him and he wasted no words to strike him down._

_"NO!" Byakko shouted._

* * *

><p>Reality<p>

Byakko screamed through the top of his lungs as he woke up, panting heavily and when he looked up, he sees that he's in his room and sees Santiago still asleep, but breathing. He lets out a heavy sigh and sweat came out of his head and just laid his head down on his pillow, looking up at the ceiling just thinking about that nightmare.

Just then, the door opens and it was Musaki coming in, looking really concerned and when he saw the look in Byakko's eyes, he could tell that something was wrong.

"Are you okay, Byakko? I heard you scream and I wanted to know what was going on." Musaki said.

Byakko blinked his eyes a little and he tilted his head to the side, almost as if he's trying not to clue Musaki in on this. He said to him, "I can't tell you."

Musaki came over to him and sat down next to him on the ground and he said, "Hey, you're my little brother. You can tell me anything."

Byakko wasn't sure about this at first because it was too personal to him, but when he felt Musaki's paw on his shoulder, it had a sense of comfort and a sense that he could trust him with everything. Finally, Byakko lets out a deep heavy sigh and said, "I had a nightmare...that Benkei might come back for me."

Hearing that made Musaki a little surprised and he could tell that it's weighing really heavy on Byakko and the young white tiger continued to say, "I saw...my parents' bodies...all mutilated and scattered to pieces and then you, Po, Shifu, the Five, Arizona and even Santiago...you were all killed and murdered."

Musaki felt like maybe it would've been better if he hadn't have asked that question, but Musaki hugged him tightly anyway. He felt his heart literally breaking for him to go through so much of horrors and unspeakable things that have happened in his past.

"My biggest fear is that...I might lose control of myself and end up killing the people I love. I wouldn't be able to live with that for the rest of my life." Byakko said, tearfully.

"That will never happen." Musaki whispered.

"How do you know?" asked Byakko.

Musaki wiped Byakko's eyes and responded, "I'm your brother. I'll always be here for you...and so will Po, Shifu and the Five. You won't lose us at all."

Byakko then hugged Musaki yet again and just cried on his shoulders. Musaki embraced the hug and wanted to make sure that Byakko will always be loved and he'll protect him at all costs.

"Don't worry. If Benkei ever comes back to the palace, we'll be ready." Musaki added.

"Thanks, Musaki." Byakko whispered.

They let go for a second and Musaki walked out of the room for a second and then turns around and said, "Good night, tiger bro."

Byakko has never heard that before and it was like he felt as if he's now a part of Musaki's family and he said, "Good night...panda brother."

With that, Byakko went back to sleep...this time in a peaceful slumber, knowing that he'll never be alone because he has Musaki and the rest of the kung-fu masters by his side.

* * *

><p>Don't it make you wanna head over to Byakko and just hug him? Stick around for more!<p> 


	18. Worst Nightmare Realized

Remember when I said we're gonna be close to the fight scene? Well...let's say it's coming closer.

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><p>Chapter 18: Worst Nightmare Realized<p>

By the next day, all of the masters trained as hard as they could while they await Benkei's return and Byakko was the one that fought the most hardest in order to show that there is absolutely no mercy and that he's letting out all of those feelings he had to hold inside of him for so long. Santiago did the same thing and they both had a fierce training skill into order to prep themselves for a huge battle.

Shifu could see that Byakko's growing stronger and stronger each and every single time he trains and senses that he's the most hardest, yet dedicated kung-fu prodigies with moves he's never even seen him do before. The fact that he's a daikojin made him more surprised and also amazed that even though he's got elemental powers that he can do anything.

Minutes later, Shifu walked over to the peach tree where he sees Byakko sitting there alone, trying to meditate. He didn't want to disturb him attaining his inner peace so he decided to join him without Byakko even knowing it.

Then, as if out of nowhere, Byakko quickly engulfed himself into flames as he was finding inner peace within himself and seconds later, it faded away very quickly and when he opened his eyes, he didn't notice that Shifu was right next to him, thinking that he might've burned him by accident, but miraculously...he was standing there without a scratch.

"I see that you're finding inner peace, Byakko." Shifu said.

Byakko chuckled softly and scratched the back of his head and said, "Trying to, anyway."

The young white tiger lets out a huge sigh and then, turned to Shifu and said, "I just can't stop thinking about that nightmare I had last night...you know, about Benkei."

Shifu turned to Byakko and asked, "Musaki told me about it this morning."

That surprised Byakko to the core after hearing that Musaki told Shifu about it and he asked, "How?"

"Musaki tells me everything. He could tell that you're still scared of losing everything and everyone you'll eventually love." Shifu added.

Byakko grew sadder and sadder because he knew Shifu was right and that has always been his biggest fear. He lets out a small sigh and said, "I just don't wanna feel like I'm alone again...ever."

Shifu puts his hand on Byakko's shoulder for comfort and he said, "You'll never be alone at all. We're all gonna be here fighting Benkei."

"Why should you help me? It's something I have to deal with on my own." Byakko added.

Shifu lets out a heavy sigh and he said, "I know. I've only known you for days, but I think of you as my son."

That warmed up Byakko's heart to hear this coming from Shifu and he never really thought of him as fatherly, but with the Five, Po, Musaki and Arizona around, they were more than just kung-fu masters...they're family. And that's how Byakko sees them.

"I've never really thought something like this would exist. Benkei used to tell me that families like that are nothing but liars and deceivers who'd turn against you without a second thought." Byakko added.

"Well, he's wrong. Families are not like that. They may have their problems, but they would never abandon them or forget them because they're always there. Always keep that in mind." Shifu said.

Byakko quickly nodded his head and understood everything Shifu told him. Then, he asked, "About your daikojin...I know I told you that I want to know everything about what it is and what are the auras?"

Byakko didn't really know how to respond to that question, simply because his father was a daikojin himself and he said, "I've heard that the daikojin is known for great strength and many people are feared by it and one bloodline will pass down to the strong hearted and it's always compared to a god's strength. It just depends on how much it'll seep out. If I have a light green, it's really little. If I have a bluish-green aura, I have half and purple is when I have a full daikojin."

"Dare I ask...what is the full daikojin?" asked Shifu.

"One who has a full daikojin means that I have a good daikojin." Byakko replied.

Shifu blinked his eyes for a second and never really thought very highly of that and he could see him as a good person with a very good heart. He patted his shoulder and said, "I'm sure your purple aura will show...whenever it'll come."

"I hope so." Byakko said, with a sigh.

A couple of minutes later, Byakko walks through the barracks and when he got to the kitchen, he sees all of the kung-fu masters and then Santiago comes in behind him and they didn't know exactly what's gonna happen and when they came in, silence filled the air.

"What's going on?" asked Santiago.

Shifu was the first to tell them something and he said, "You must brace yourselves for this battle with Benkei. My messenger Zeng flew through the area Benkei was staying at and he's told all of us that he's on his way here."

That news shook Byakko and Santiago to the core when they found out that Benkei's coming to exact revenge on both of them. Santiago looked horrified as did Byakko and then, he asked, "When is he coming?"

Tigress looked at both of them for a second and replied, "Only time will tell, but he's on his way here. Whether it'll be tomorrow or whatever, that's anyone's guess."

Byakko's exact fears have finally come alive and he never thought it'd come by so quickly. He took a sharp breath and Musaki could see that this news really got to him and he said, "Like I said, if he does come back, we'll get him."

Byakko looked at Musaki for a second and he said, "Why are you doing this for us?"

"We've never been defended by anyone before." Santiago added.

Musaki lets out a smile and said, "We're brothers. I always got your back and I'll protect you always...just like the rest of us."

All of the masters agreed with that and Viper went on to say, "We've all got your back. Never forget that and we'll take this tiger down in a heartbeat."

Knowing that they got full support made both Byakko and Santiago feel like things will finally turn around for once and both of them smiled and said, "Thanks, guys."

All of the masters bowed to them and Byakko and Santiago graciously bowed back to them with loads of gratitude. Shifu then said, "On that note, students..get some rest for tomorrow will be the biggest day of our lives."

All of them agreed and turned themselves in early and for Byakko, it was actually gonna happen although he worries for his friends' safety and how they'll be able to batlle him, but he knows that he'll protect them with his life.

Meanwhile, Benkei walked across the boulder with the sight of the Jade Palace further away from him and then, he lets out a sinister laugh for he could not wait to get Byakko and Santiago. He said, "I am aware of your daikojin, Byakko. Come tomorrow, your nine lives will be shortened down to zero."

* * *

><p>The fight scene is coming! The fight scene is coming! Coming...soon!<p> 


	19. Waiting for Benkei's Arrival

We're getting closer now!

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><p>Chapter 19: Waiting for Benkei's Arrival<p>

The next day comes along and all of the kung-fu masters stood across the front of the Jade Palace, waiting with bated breath for Benkei to show up. Knowing that he's coming for both Byakko and Santiago, they're ready to do whatever it takes for keep these two from harm. Musaki was the most focused and the most ready to take down Benkei without even a second thought.

Musaki took a deep breath as the wind starts blowing through his fur and he held out his two sais out in case Benkei strikes immediately. Arizona got in his fighting stance already and stood side-by-side with Musaki in case something might go down, but he knows that they'll take him down together.

Shifu looked at all of their students, eager to get themselves ready for something that's gonna be bigger and slightly fierce and he knew that it was all for Byakko and Santiago's safety.

Shifu then looks at Musaki and asked, "Are Byakko and Santiago inside?"

"Yep. I told them to stay in their rooms for their own safety. But I wouldn't be surprised if one of them appeared out of freakin' nowhere and fought this guy." Musaki added.

Tigress looked up and added, "Won't that be considered a wrong move?"

Musaki then looked at her and said, "Not for them. I'm pretty confident that either of them will give what Benkei deserves and we'll do the same thing to this dude."

Just then, a distant growl came from downstairs and that's when they knew...Benkei is around the corner. All of the masters started to brace themselves for the biggest outcome that they'll eventually face.

All of them however, are unaware that both Byakko and Santiago are standing on the rooftop of the Jade Palace witnessing this happening and tried to keep themselves incognito without giving each other away. Byakko could not believe that they would be willing to go out of their way to attack Benkei for them. He lets out a very heavy sigh and whispered, "I've never thought anyone would do something like that for us."

Santiago looked at Byakko and added, "Because we've never been cared for at all...until now. Hopefully, they'll let us fight him."

As they made their way out of the other side of the roof, they totally saw Benkei walking up the stairs to the palace from a far distance and they immediately snuck down there without them getting caught. Byakko took one last glance at the masters and whispered, "Be careful, you guys."

Just then, the lightning strikes and immediately...Benkei was in front of the masters and he lets out a very low growl and said, "I came to get what I want."

Musaki stuck out his sai and said, "Dude, the only thing you'll ever want is my sai sticking out of your butt because you'll get absolutely nothing."

Benkei could not believe that Musaki and the others would actually defend both Byakko and Santiago and he said, "You honestly think you'll do anything to stop me from getting these two?"

"We don't think, we know." Tigress said, bitterly.

Benkei slowly stuck his sword out and said, "So be it..."

* * *

><p>Cliffhanger! The moment you've been waiting for will be over!<p> 


	20. The Final Fight

And the wait's finally over! Cue the fight scene because it is about to go crazy! Plus, Benkei reveals an awful secret that he kept from Byakko for years.

* * *

><p>Chapter 20: The Final Fight<p>

Benkei didn't even waste any words as he went and kicked Tigress in the shin and all of the others began taking their shots at him as the fight rages on. Benkei started taking scratches and punches on Tigress, but she pushed him down with enough force for an ultimate takedown and smacked him on his head with her feet. Then, it was Crane's turn as he flew up, swooped down and used his wings to send him enough strength to blow him away.

Benkei wasn't gonna take his chances as he drew out his sniper to shoot off some of the kung-fu masters, but neither master was willing to let this end in a destroyed palace so Po immediately stepped in and landed some punches, kicks and head-butts on Benkei and used his big belly to push him down harder than ever.

"Way to use your belly, Po!" Tigress exclaimed.

Musaki chuckled softly and said, "Looks like your snack cravings paid off."

Shifu went in and swiped Benkei down with Oogway's staff and then flipped, twirled and kicked him all the way down and then he jumps up in the air and punches him straight in the face and jaw, causing the white tiger to fall down. He looks up at Shifu in disbelief to see how a little animal his size would do kung-fu moves this big.

"Impossible!" Benkei shouted.

Shifu lets out a cocky smirk and a slight chuckle and said, "Oh, is it?"

Benkei gets himself up and suddenly, it was Viper's turn to take him down as she uses her body to bring him down to the ground and lands some punches on her tail and then Mantis comes in using most of his pressure points on his head, thus making Benkei hit himself as harder.

Benkei was fed up with being beaten and as he fought them back, Monkey went ahead and charged at him with enough force as he jumps up and kicked him hard with his feet and then used some of Musaki's breakdance moves to tackle him down to the ground and flipped him down multiple times and then Musaki comes in using his supernatural blue and white orb to knock him down as he falls down to the ground.

Benkei was shocked to see that Musaki actually took him down again and he still found it hard to believe that this stranger that took Byakko and Santiago from him would defend both of them and suddenly, Arizona went in behind Musaki, both ready to fight him down.

Musaki looked at Arizona and he asked, "You ready, Zona?"

Arizona lets out a slight chuckle as he cracked his fists and replied, "You know it!"

Benkei felt like he was gonna take them down as hard as he can and as he went to stick them with his sword, both Arizona and Musaki tackled him down together as they head-butted him, flipped him, threw him and bodyslammed him to the ground. Arizona went up and snarled at him fiercely as he leaped on top of him, scratching his face.

Benkei lets out a groan of pain as Arizona got back down to the ground and the white tiger's face was scratched as blood starts coming out of him and that made him completely pissed.

"Young wolf...you're gonna regret that!" Benkei shouted!

Arizona lets out a scoff and he said, "And you're gonna regret standing where you're at now!"

Both Musaki and Arizona looked at each other and decided that it's time to use their new moves and they both shouted, "Yin-Yang Shuffle!"

Both of them grabbed their paws, twirled around as fast as they could and when they hit the maximum amount of strength, their swirls were formed like a yin-yang symbol and as they flew up the sky and rapidly sped down to Benkei as a huge explosion formed in front of him as he flew out of the way and landed down on the ground.

As the smoke from that power faded away, both of them stood still hoping that Benkei would eventually be defeated from this and almost immediately, they saw him get himself up and both of them were remotely shocked to see that though he was badly beaten, he still wouldn't give up.

"Man, you never give up, do ya?" asked Musaki.

Benkei leaped up to both of them and just scratched Musaki in the nose, causing him to cry out in pain and then drive-kicked him in the face as fierce as he could and replied, "I don't give up that easily!"

Arizona was brutally pissed at how he beat up Musaki and he lets out a warrior scream and growled at him as he beat him up multiple times and when he was about to use his leg to sock him in the face, Benkei grabbed his leg and just threw him out of the way and landed on the tree. Santiago couldn't stand to watch it anymore so he did what he had to do...take matters in his own paws as he scratched him and punched him in the face.

Benkei grew furious as he saw Santiago actually beating him down after all the years he gave him hell and said, "You think you're gonna actually fight me and get away with this?"

"It's for all the years you gave me and Byakko nothing but hell." Santiago snarled.

Both of them were beating, biting, and clawing each other up just for the heck of it and for Santiago, it was a way to let out all of those feelings he had kept for years after being tormented and abused by Benkei for years, but unfortunately...

Benkei used his sword and swiped it at Santiago's muzzle and in parts of his face, making the young white wolf howl and cry out in pain and then he used a white and green orb out of his hands to strike him down hard and then it wasn't long until it blew all of the kung-fu masters out hard, leaving them unconscious and exhausted.

Benkei panted heavily as he sees all of them laying down in defeat and lets out a sinister smirk as he slowly walks around trying to find Byakko.

Minutes later, Byakko slowly walks out of the barracks and when he got outside, he was shocked to see all of the kung-fu masters wiped out and beaten down by Benkei. He starts shuddering in horror as he sees the people that he was starting to care for eventually suffered by Benkei's blow. And when he looks at Santiago, blood started coming out of his face and that his only friend for years was knocked out.

Tears were forming in the young white tiger's eyes as he feared that Santiago might be killed and he felt as if there was something he could've done to stop them or even protect his new friends.

All of a sudden, he felt something under his foot and when he looked down, it was a scroll. But what was it? Who was it from? Suddenly, the name reads 'Katoshi Byakko' was engraved there and when he opened it up, it was the same message the Soothsayer explained to him and the other kung-fu masters that was written by his father. At that point, it gave him the driving courage and a promise that he'll do anything he can to expose his full daikojin and to do it for his friends.

'Protect them with your life, my son.'

When he looks up, he sees Benkei in front of him and soon enough, Byakko's mind was filled with rage as Benkei looked up at him and just like that, he said, "Made a big mistake running away from me."

Byakko snarled at him and replied, "Not as big as you wiping out my friends."

"Who would care for you...a monster like you?" Benkei said, in a cold tone.

Byakko was fueled with a lot of rage and just resorted to beating him up and letting out most of his darkness powers at him, but Benkei wasn't gonna let him win as he struck him down with his bare paws and scratched him in the face, causing Byakko to cry out in pain as blood starts coming out and lands on his knees.

Benkei panted furiously as he stuck out his sword and said, "I should've known you were to risk your own life to save those strangers...just as your own father died trying to keep you alive."

Byakko then looks at Benkei as if he knew something that he never knew about and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Benkei lets out a very evil smirk and told him, "I know something you don't in over 15 years ago...when I killed your parents."

Byakko's reaction was one of shock, disbelief and outrage that Benkei was the one that killed his parents, not him. He knew that it wasn't him, but the fact that Benkei hid it from him for so long really pissed him off in a big way. With a huge roar, he bellowed, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?"

"I was the one that killed your parents! Your father was one of the 3 legendary Byakko clans with ultimate strength of the daikojin and I knew from there that anyone with those kinds of powers are deemed unstoppable. Years before you were born, your father and I were rivals in our younger years...and he was considered a threat to me and this one particular example was that he had the audacity to kill my brother because he and his pack were coming for him because we wanted revenge after being banished from their turf. I was obsessed with getting him back and when I found that you were born, I knew that you were gonna be one of the daikojin clan and wanted to put an end to it, just for my brother. I went into the house and saw your mother coming in, I just wasted no time killing her and when your father saw her lying in a pool of blood, I just leaped down and attacked him. He tried to keep you safe and when he set outside, I grabbed him by the tail and just murdered him with my sword, thus avenging the death of my brother and set the house on fire. When I saw the villagers blame you for what had happened, I figured that your elemental powers were shown and wiping out one Byakko clan wasn't enough so I had to take advantage of you in more ways that none; by telling you that your parents never wanted you and let you believe that the tragedy was your fault and that everyone sees you as a monster...which your father clearly was. And I also killed Santiago's parents too...just simply by chance. I let you both live in unspeakable tortures and endure relentless ounce of unacceptance by others that pass by, thinking you might harm them. I've thought about ending your life for so many years and it has all come down to this." Benkei explained, with a sinister smirk.

Just hearing the entire story enraged Byakko to the fullest extent and he lets out a very loud scream that could merely break a lot of animals' ears and lets out a savage roar directly at his face and he pinned him down and screamed, "YOU FREAKIN' LYING BASTARD! You've lied to me and Santiago the entire time and I had to endure 15 years of your crap and everything else I've gone through! All those years of dealing with you...you don't deserve to live."

Benkei shoved him down to the ground and then he comes at Byakko and slowly rises up his sword and plans to stab him, in which Benkei's true colors have been shown in front of him. Just then, Byakko gets up and punches him down and uses his take-down kung-fu moves and darkness powers to take him down to bring out the pain he's been keeping in for 15 years.

Both of them pinned each other down as they kept fighting and Byakko flipped him down, slammed him into a tree while Benkei grabs him by the leg and scratched him down. Byakko groans in pain as he laid there, beaten and bruised up.

Benkei growled at him and he said, "Daddy isn't here to save you anymore! If you actually think that those people out there actually care about you, you are sadly mistaken! The world is a cruel place, Byakko...and once you're in there, they will take full advantage of you...because they're heartless, hateful people. Now I'm gonna do what I should've done 15 years ago!"

Byakko grunts in pain and slowly stands up and said, "Never...I will never take a single word of everything you said! All my life, I kept hearing that the world is a dark, cruel place over and over again and what's cruel about it is people like you! At least I'm surrounded by people I care deeply about and will always be there for me...and they treat me better...WAY better than you ever did!"

"SHUT UP! Prepare to meet the end of your life!" Benkei shouted, as he raised up his sword at Byakko.

Byakko felt like he wasn't gonna waste his time talking and he immediately grabbed Benkei's paw and struck him down with his kung-fu moves, kicking, scratching, biting and clawing him down and when Benkei was about to stab the freakin' crap out of him, he released a huge purple daikojin orb power out of his paws that's strong enough to bring Benkei down to his demise and completely defeat him. And almost immediately, Byakko mustered up his fire power to engulf him in flames as a result of ending his life, watching him burn down until it's gone.

The young white tiger started panting furiously as he looked at the sky and completely avenged his family's deaths as he officially took down Benkei. He lets out a long heavy sigh of relief and said to himself, "Finally...after 15 years, it's over."

Byakko took a simple glance at Benkei's burnt body and just wanted to end this suffering once and for all, despite being lied to and nearly getting killed by him most of his life and made the biggest decision to let go of all the pain that he's been suppressing for so long...by forgiving Benkei.

"Even though you've made my life a living hell and prompting me to believe that I was a monster, I'm not gonna hold on to what you've done any longer. Despite gaining revenge on what happened, I decided to forgive you for everything you ever did to me, my family and to Santiago. That way, I can live my life in peace." Byakko said.

Just then, a purple orb came inside of him and that's when he knew...his full daikojin has been shown.

'Well done, my son. You have finally received your full potential...by getting your full daikojin...and for that, I am very proud of you.'

He knew that voice from anywhere...his father's. He looked up at the sky and sees his father's spirit coming in front of him. He smiled at his son and bowed to him with a deep, mutual respect and Byakko did the same and said, "Thanks, dad."

It soon faded away and when he looked up, all of the other kung-fu masters got up and Byakko immediately came in and hugged all of them, just grateful that they're alive and well. Musaki looks up and he sees Benkei's body all charred up and he looked at Byakko and asked, "Did you...finish him off?"

Byakko smiled at him and said, "Yep, all by myself."

All of them were surprised to hear this come out of Byakko, even Crane's beak dropped down in shock and disbelief that he would do something like that. Not long after, Byakko explained everything on how he managed to take Benkei down all by himself.

"So...basically, Benkei was the one that killed your parents and deceived you and Santiago for so long because your dad was one of the 3 powerful beings of unimaginable strength and that you're following the bloodline of it and then you took him down by yourself and forgave him for what he did to you." Mantis said, trying to sum it up.

"Which in turn shows that I have a full daikojin." Byakko said.

Most of them couldn't believe what they said, even Tigress couldn't believe that Byakko would forgive Benkei for what he had done and she said, "Why would you forgive him after all he did to you?"

Byakko sighed and said, "Even though I had revenge on him, I just don't wanna live in a world full of misery and everything he ever did, it's his problem, not mine so it's easier to lift some burden away from myself, so I forgave him and I actually started feeling better in which I got the purple aura to get my full daikojin."

"Wow...I never knew that you have that good of an aura." Viper said, in awe.

Santiago then comes over to Byakko and he looked at him in the eye and said, "We can finally live our lives in peace for once."

"And guys...thanks for defending me." Byakko added, with a smile on his face.

Po scoffs for a second and said, "Thank us? Try thank you for fighting him off for us with your freakin' awesome powers!"

Byakko blinked a couple of times, just laughing with some of Po's excitement and all of a sudden, the Soothsayer comes in and said, "I figured your full daikojin was shown...and it showed. Your father would be very proud of you."

"He is." Byakko added.

Shifu looked at Byakko with a smile and said, "As are we."

Byakko and Santiago completely felt like all of their sufferings were finally over and with the kung-fu masters with them as their new family, it was like a new life is gonna take hold for these two and they're finally getting the peaceful life they desperately needed for so long.

* * *

><p>Thanks to my friend vampire1031 for giving me the full suggestion for this. But don't think that this is the end of the story. Not by a long shot. Just got one more chapter left to go.<p> 


	21. New Future and New Life

And here's where it all ends.

* * *

><p>Chapter 21: New Future, New Life<p>

Days after the final fight with Benkei, things went really well for Byakko and Santiago as they got used to living in the Jade Palace with the kung-fu masters and with Musaki by their side, they could finally embrace that kind of brotherhood comfort that they really needed. The more Byakko trained with Musaki and Tigress, the more he's progressing to control his powers...although no power could stop both Musaki and Tigress' constant squabbling with each other.

Byakko has been focusing more on his meditating, achieving inner peace and strength, which engulfs him to flames and not long after, he had found peace within himself and the world around him.

Santiago and Arizona have become best buds throughout the process and that it was really great to see those wolves getting along so well alongside Ruiz, who seems to get along with Santiago the most, knowing that three wolves are like the quintessential wolf brotherhood trio.

Each and every day in the training hall, when Byakko spars with Musaki, it screams more and more strength and grows more stronger at every minute and it shows. Byakko became really excited about it, his entire body was filld up like a lightning rod and when he came to give Musaki a high-five, he accidently electrocuted him, which sent shockwaves through his entire fur. Byakko chuckled nervously and said, "Sorry, bro."

Musaki's fur was zapped from head to toe, but he chuckled softly as he took it all in stride and said, "No harm done."

Po started laughing at this and he said, "Yeah, Lil' Saki...it was really funny seeing you get burned."

Byakko started smiling at this joke and when Po managed to high-five him, he got zapped by Byakko, which in turn electrocuted the back part of his shorts, leaving nothing but a medium-sized hole on the back of his pants, which made Tigress gasp in shock that one of Po's butt cheeks was half exposed.

"Why do I feel a sudden breeze?" asked Po.

Tigress then said to him, "I see half of your butt...again."

Po was shocked to discover that not only was his pants were electrocuted, but there was a hole on the back of his pants and his face turned completely red and walked out of the training hall in embarassment and soon after, Musaki was tickled that Tigress actually mentioned it and he said, "You liked what ya see, didn't ya?"

Tigress scoffed at that remark and she said, "I did not. I was just reminding him."

"Mm-hmm, sure ya did." Musaki added, sarcastically.

Tigress rolled her eyes at him and tried to get her head straight, but her thoughts said otherwise.

'Po does have a cute butt.'

Later on, Musaki along with Santiago, Arizona and Byakko walked across parts of the Valley of Peace just to hang out together and they started laughing and having fun with each other and also talking about what had happened earlier in the training hall.

"Musaki, I cannot believe you just said that to Tigress." Arizona explained, with a goofy smile.

Musaki scoffed and said, "It was just a joke. You know I'm always joking around with her and that particular remark kinda made the sense that she liked what he saw, even if it was a quick glance. But other than that, I was just kidding."

Byakko felt a little bit embarassed for Po by that situation and he said, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Sometimes I get way too excited...especially when it comes to being happy for something that really means a lot to me."

Musaki chuckled and patted Byakko's head and said, "It's cool. At least you're controlling yourself."

Soon, they entered in the bookstore to check out some cool stuff and as Musaki and Byakko headed to the manga section, they see Fu reading one of them and Musaki walked over to her and said, "What up, Fu?"

Fu looks up and she sees Musaki coming in and her eyes lit up when he was in front of him and she leaped up and hugged him tightly.

"Musaki! Where ya been hiding yourself?" asked Fu, happily.

Musaki chuckled softly and replied, "The Jade Palace, you know. Just keeping up with the training and stuff like that."

"How's everyone else in the Jade Palace doing?" asked Fu.

"They're doing good. Where's your brother?"

"Ichi's on the other side of the manga section with Shiissaa and Ren, basically gabbing about why romance novels are dull and lame." Fu replied.

"Uh, we can actually hear you from behind." a voice popped up.

Musaki knew that that voice was Ichi's and he said, "Hey, Ich."

Musaki, Fu and Byakko walked around the other side of the section and sees all three of them and Ichi was the first one to come over and say, "Saki-man, how ya been?"

"Pretty awesome." Musaki replied.

"Please excuse my sister's constant eavesdropping."

Fu scoffs at that remark and said, "Oh, Nii-san."

Suddenly, Fu didn't recognize the white tiger in front of Musaki and she completely forgot to introduce herself to him and said, "Hey, I'm Fu. Who are you?"

Byakko looked a little nervous, but after Musaki looked at him with a smile, he mustered enough courage to come to her and said, "I'm Byakko."

They both shook hands, which in turn made Byakko feel really confident about making new friends and Ichi walked over to him and said, "Heard you took down that Benkei guy. Wished I was there, but Musaki told me about what happened a few days ago and congrats, man. I know it took a lot of courage to do what you had to do."

Byakko nodded his head and agreed with that statement that Ichi said to him. Suddenly, Ren clears his throat behind him and said, "Aren't you gonna introduce him to us, your cousins?"

Musaki looked up and sees Shiissaa and Ren right in front of him and he said, "Hey, guys. So sorry about that."

All of them came in front of them and Ichi said, "This is Musaki's friend, Byakko. He's a half-demon like us, guys."

Musaki chuckled and said, "Actually, he's my new brother."

That shocked them the most when they heard that he's got a new brother and Ichi asked, "Now that was unexpected."

"Well, I wouldn't very much want him to be alone without someone to guide him, could I? I wanted to take him in as if he was my little brother, so why not?" asked Musaki.

Ren chuckled at this and said, "I always thought you'd be this selfless like Ichi."

Shiissaa looked at Byakko and he said, "Welcome to the club, man."

Just then, Santiago and Arizona caught up with Musaki and Byakko and they saw Shiissa, Ichi, Fu and Ren around the manga section and Arizona said, "Hey, guys."

Ichi looks up and he sees Arizona coming in and he said, "What's happening, Arizona?"

They gave each other high-fives and Arizona replied, "Not much."

Musaki went on to say, "Ren, Shiissaa, Fu...this is Arizona and that's my other brother, Santiago."

It was surprising that Musaki is taking this wolf in as his other little brother and they did not know how to respond to that and Musaki said, "What, wolves shouldn't be a part of a panda family?"

All of them wanted to make the best of this and Ren said, "Pleasure to meet ya, Santiago."

"Me too. I hope you guys are cool with me." Santiago said, in a shy tone.

Fu chuckled at this and said, "Yeah, why wouldn't we?"

Santiago wasn't sure if he would tell them, but he mustered up enough courage to say these simple words, "I'm pyrokinese."

"Pyroki-what?" they all but Arizona, Musaki, Ichi and Byakko asked.

"I have fire powers." Santiago replied.

"Ohh..." Ren, Fu and Shiissaa said.

Ichi puts his shoulder around Santiago and said, "We understand you."

All of them started talking and began reading some pretty cool manga books and started joking around with each other and for Byakko and Santiago, there's nothing better.

Later that day, Byakko sat down on the roof of the Jade Palace, just looking at the sky thinking about how far he's come in such a short amount of time that he and Santiago would go from living in a world of hopelessness and desperation to seeing the world in a new light and made it full with hope and happiness. He knows that if his dad was here right now, he'd tell him he's so proud of him for what he's accomplished.

"Room for one more on the roof?"

Just then, Byakko turns around and sees Musaki and Santiago coming up there and they sat down towards him and Musaki asked, "So...what are ya thinking about?"

Byakko took a deep sigh and said, "I can't believe how lucky I am. Me and Santiago always thought people who cared about us never existed, but after everything that's happened, we now know there there are good people in the world that accept us for us and it took us a long time to actually realize that and you pulled us through with it."

Santiago nodded his head in agreement and said, "If someone would've told us that we would live a new life in such peace and harmony, we would've just shoved them away. But now, because of you, we have that opportunity."

Musaki smiled at both of them and said, "Like I told you guys, there are good people in this world. You just have to take your time and find them and only then, you can accept it."

For the first time in their lives, they have finally found the love and comfort that they never had before in their lives and they were really lucky to find a brother like Musaki to be there for them.

"I wanna make a promise to you guys; that I'll help you make your lives better and that's worth living." Musaki said.

Both of them were really surprised to hear this and Santiago asked, "You promise?"

"I promise." Musaki replied.

All three of them just looked up at the sky and just took it all in and for Byakko and Santiago, it's a moment that will be embedded in their hearts forever and found something that they've been searching for a long time...a peaceful, happy life.

* * *

><p>And that's it! Ichi, Fu, Shiissaa and Ren are owned by Wonder Panda Tan-Tan. Thank you all for reading and reviewing this story! AniUniverse saying thank you and laterz!<p> 


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